


Saving Billy Hargrove

by EideticPrettyBoySpence



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22377361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EideticPrettyBoySpence/pseuds/EideticPrettyBoySpence
Summary: This is just my self-indulgent story fixing the shitshow that the Duffer assholes made of season three, because Billy Hargrove deserved fucking better. I wanted to fit in the pool scene before Heather gets flayed and the mall scene, so let's pretend they didn't happen at the same time.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Saving Billy Hargrove

It's been about a year and a half since Billy and I started dating, and things are going great. It's like I never moved in the first place, like we were never apart. During the summer of 1985, I started working at Hawkins Community Pool with Billy. One day in early summer, I'm sitting at the check in desk when he walks out to start his shift. I glance up, and my mouth waters from the sight. Then I put my fingers on the sides of my lips and whistle quickly. 

"Looking good, lifeguard," I call out. 

He turns around with his signature smirk and walks toward the desk, leaning his elbows on it. "Thanks, I appreciate that, but I have a girlfriend. And she'd kill us both if she even saw us talking."

I laugh and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, leaning forward to kiss him softly. "I'll see you at your car after work? Mom's making meatloaf and macaroni and cheese. You should have time to stay for dinner and still get home before Neil, right? Otherwise I'll just see you in the morning for school."

"I don't know, I'll think about it though, okay? You know what'll happen if Neil gets home and I'm not there. I've gotta get to work, I'll see you at break alright?"

"Yeah, of course."

I knew working at a place where he would be shirtless the whole time would be really hard for my self esteem to handle. I knew he'd have high school girls drooling over him, flirting with him and trying to take him away from me. But what I didn't expect was for middle aged women to flirt with him too, let alone one of them to be Mrs Wheeler. I sure as hell didn't expect him to flirt with someone, let alone my best friend's mother, right in front of me. It starts out pretty innocent at first, with just a greeting as he walks by to start his shift. If that was where it ended, I'd be completely fine. 

"Afternoon, ladies," he greets her and her friends.

"Afternoon, Billy," they reply in unison.

"Dig the new suit, Mrs Wheeler."

"Thank you."

Later, Mrs Wheeler is doing laps. When she gets out, Billy walks over and hands her a towel. And that's when I overhear a conversation that makes me feel like I've been punched in the gut. I feel hot tears of humiliation prick the corners of my eyes. "Looking good out there, Mrs Wheeler." "Thank you." "Perfect form." "Well... your form is amazing," she replies, making him chuckle, and I scoff. Is she serious? "I'm sorry, I mean, I... I've seen you.. uh, teaching... lessons. Swimming lessons." "You know, I could, uh... I could teach you, if you like. I know all the styles. Freestyle. Butterfly. Breaststroke." Mrs Wheeler drops her towel, and they bend to pick it up at the same time. Billy grabs it and hands it back to her. "You okay?" "I didn't think you... I didn't think you taught adults," she replies. "Well, I offer more, uh... advanced lessons to select clientele. Come to think of it, there is a good pool out at a Motel 6 on Cornwallis. It's very quiet. You know, very private. Shall we say tonight? Eight o'clock?" "I'm sorry. I can't." "Can't what? Have fun? Mrs Wheeler!" No. I... I... I just, uh... I don't think I need any lessons." Oh, you see, I think you do. I just don't think that you've had the right teacher. It will be the workout of your life." At that point, I don't really care if they say anything else, because I've heard more than enough. It's five minutes to my break time anyway, so I get up and push my way out of the office, grabbing Billy's keys out of his pocket as I walk by his jacket. I mutter an apology to my manager as I run out, heading toward the Camaro. I try to get the key in the lock to open the driver's side door, but my hands are trembling so hard that I drop it. I bend over to pick it up and try again, opening the door and flopping down onto the seat. I manage to hold back my tears until I slam the door shut with a harsh sob. I don't even notice Billy walking toward the car until he opens the passenger side door, when I turn toward the window so he doesn't see me cry. "Hey, are you okay, princess? Everyone said they saw you run out here almost in tears. Did something happen, did someone say something to you or something? Nyssa, talk to me, what's wrong?" "Mrs Wheeler is really pretty, isn't she?" "Mrs Wheeler? What are you... oh, shit. Babe, that wasn't what it looked like. It was just innocent flirting, I swear." "'There is a good pool out at a Motel 6 on Cornwallis.' Oh yeah, that sounds real fucking innocent, Billy. I guess I couldn't really blame you if you were interested in her. She's gorgeous, like I said, and I could see how an older woman would be intriguing. But Mrs Wheeler, Billy? Out of all the women in Hawkins, it had to be my best friend's mom?" "Nyssa, I swear to you, I'm not interested in her. I don't want Mrs Wheeler, or any of her friends. I don't want any of the moms in town, or any of the high school girls that throw themselves at me. I only want you, baby, I've loved you since I was ten years old. Hey, come here, shh," Billy lifts me into his lap and I muffle my sobs in his shoulder. Then I wipe my cheeks, still not looking him in the eye, until he tips my chin up to look at him. "You are the only girl for me, princess. No one will ever take me away from you, so they can flirt all they want, and I could care less. I might flirt back, but that doesn't mean I want them." "You promise?" I sniffle softly. "Cross my heart. I love you, Nyssa." "I love you too, more than anything." I straddle my boyfriend's lap, tangling my fingers in his mullet as I kiss him hungrily. "I want you so badly, Billy. Fuck me, please, please fuck me." "You want me to fuck you? Here? Don't you want your first time to be special? I wouldn't think you'd want your first time to be cramped and uncomfortable in the backseat of the Camaro." "I don't care, Billy, please. I just need you, fuck me, please," I grind my hips softly against his cock. He groans, nipping my lip softly. "Okay, I'll fuck you, princess. Climb in back, I'm right behind you." I climb quickly into the backseat, nipping along Billy's jawline as soon as he follows. He presses soft kisses along my shoulder, then looks up at me with a question in his eyes. "I don't have a condom, Nyssa, we can wait. We don't have to do this if you don't want to." "I want to, Billy, I don't care," I whimper softly. "Please, baby, please." That's all Billy needs to hear, and he helps me out of my suit before he takes his trunks off. They both end up in a pile on the floor of the Camaro as he lays me back against the seat. I gasp softly as I see his cock for the first time, and he checks in with me one last time. I nod as I wrap my arms around his neck to pull his lips to mine. I whimper softly into the kiss as he eases his tip inside me. He pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. "Let me know when you want me to keep going. We've got all the time in the world, there's no rush, okay?" I get used to the stretch from his cock, and I arch my hips a little. "Keep going, I'm good." Billy starts thrusting harder and faster, and I moan softly, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Good girl, Nyssa, I got you." "Billy, I'm gonna cum. Fuck, I'm gonna cum." "I'm right behind you, Nyssa. Cum for me, baby." I groan into Billy's shoulder, muscles tensing as I cum. His thrusts become more erratic before his hips still. Once he pulls out, he sits up and pulls me into his arms. As he kisses the top of my head and rubs my back, I cuddle against his chest with a sigh. "I love you so much, Billy, more than anything in the world." "I love you too, princess. What do you say we go home?" "Yeah, let's go home, I should help mom with dinner. Did you decide if you were gonna stay or not?" "Yeah, you know I can't resist your mom's meatloaf. I'll stick around long enough to help with dishes at least and I'll still have enough time to get home before Neil gets home. Then I'll pick you up for work in the morning like always." After we help mom cook and Billy sets the table, we sit down to eat while they catch up. Then we clear the table and take the dishes in the kitchen to wash them. Once they're washed, dried, and put away, I walk Billy to the door. He tips my chin up and kisses me softly. "Won't Mrs Wheeler be upset if you don't show up?" "I don't know, maybe she will, but I don't really care if she is or not. I'm not gonna go see some bored housewife and give her 'swimming lessons' just because she's momentarily bored with her husband. Not when I've got the most gorgeous girl in the world right here. I'd never do anything to jeopardize this. You believe me, don't you?" "About not going to see Mrs Wheeler? Absolutely I do. About me being the most gorgeous woman in the world? Hardly," I chuckle softly. "See you in the morning, babe, I love you." "Love you more, princess, see you later." Everything is good for the next couple weeks, then things get weird again. I shouldn't be surprised, though; things in Hawkins don't stay normal for very long before a new crisis starts. One day in late June Billy picks me up for work like normal. But when I get in the Camaro I notice he's sweating a lot. When I bring it up he insists it's just because of the heat and that he's fine. Maybe if I wouldn't have let it go, things would have turned out a lot different that summer. I'm sitting at the registration desk reading a book when Billy walks by, stumbling a little and sweating even more than he was before. When Karen walks by a few minutes later I slip into the pool area and follow them both, cocking my head in confusion when I see that Billy had gone into the storage area where we keep the chemicals for the pool. I stand in the doorway and listen to their conversation. "Billy? Billy? I... I understand if you're angry with me. I just... I wanted to explain... why I didn't come last night. It's not you, I just... I have a family. And I can't do anything that could hurt them. You understand that, don't you? But I shouldn't have said that- Billy? Will you please talk to me?" "Stay away from me, Karen," Billy stumbles back outside. He doesn't even see me standing there. "Baby, are you alright? Billy?" He doesn't answer. Mrs Wheeler follows Billy out a couple minutes later. I put my arm out to stop her, trapping her inside the storage area. "You really have no shame, do you, Karen? He's only seventeen, you realize that, right? I wonder what Nancy would have to say if I just happened to mention that you were planning on cheating on her father. Let alone with someone under the age of eighteen. Stay the fuck away from my boyfriend, Karen. Or I will tell her. I'll tell Nancy, I'll tell Mike and I'll tell your husband. I've had to watch you and your gross friends flirt with my boyfriend for weeks, and I've had enough. Try me, I dare you. But now if you excuse me, I have to go back to work." No more than a half hour later, Billy climbs down from his chair again. He stumbles his way toward the boys locker room, bumping into some meathead on the way there. I push past one of the other female lifeguards to follow him. I could care less that he walked into the boys locker room, and I shouldn't be going in there. I follow behind him and hear the sound of a shower running. Then he screams in pain, and I round the corner at a run. "Billy?! Billy," I crouch in front of him. "Baby, what's wrong?" He shrinks back a little into the corner of the stall and holds his hands out. "Nyssa, stay away from me. I don't know what's happening. I don't want to accidentally hurt you. I'll be fine, just go, please." "No, Billy, I'm not going anywhere. Not until you tell me what's wrong." "Princess, please. Just. Go." "Fine, damn you, I'll go. I love you," I kiss his forehead; he's trembling. I don't see him for a while after that. When I wake up in the morning, I decide to see if there's anything good on tv. I flip through channels until I find The Munsters. I leave it on for background noise while I read. Later, the phone rings so I answer it. Hopper had called to ask if I'd watch El when he goes in to work because he has a date with Joyce. "Wow, that's great! Finally worked up the balls to ask her out, huh? I told you that she'd say yes if you would just ask her. She's in to you, it's painfully, adorably obvious. I'll see you later, bye Jim." When I get to Hopper's cabin, El comes out and immediately goes back inside. I greet Hopper, who's standing in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal, once I walk in. He waves to me as he looks at his daughter dialing the phone. "Hey. Is everything okay?" "Yes." She takes the receiver in her room after she dials, and I can just faintly hear her side of the conversation. "It's 9:32. Where are you? What... why not?" After a pause, she replies to something Mike said. "But Hop said that your Nana was okay, that it was a false alarm. Do you lie?" Minutes later, she comes out of her room, slams the phone down and walks back into her room, slamming the door behind her. Hopper leaves for work not long after, and I settle in to keep reading The Shining. But then El comes out of her room and walks toward the front door without a word. So I get up and follow her outside and across the yard. "Hey, where are we headed?" "Max," is the only answer I get. "You know, I could drive you. It's kind of far." "I'm okay." About twenty minutes later, we reach my street and stop. Max is out in front of her house, practicing a trick on her skateboard. But then the board gets away from her and rolls toward us. El stops it with her foot, tipping it up so she can pick it up, walks toward Max and stops in front of her, still holding it. Max looks at her in confusion, and they stand silent for a minute, looking at each other. Finally, El breaks the silence and greets the other girl. "Hi." "Hi?" "Can we talk?" Max walks toward her house, waving a hand for us to follow. We walk through the house into her bedroom, and she shuts the door. I sit down on the bed next to El, and she starts telling Max about her phone call with Mike. The other girl paces the floor as she listens. "And then he said he- he missed me. And then he just hung up," El finishes. "He's a piece of shit," Max exclaims. "What? "Mike doesn't have jack shit to do today, and his Nana obviously isn't sick. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing Atari right now." "But friends don't lie." "Yeah, well, boyfriends lie. All the time," Max sits on the bed next to El. "You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist." "Doesn't exist?" "He treated you like garbage. You're gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine." "Give him the medicine," El repeats slowly. "Mm-hm. And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass. Come on," she stands up and takes El's hands. "Where are we going?" "To have some fun. There's more to life than stupid boys, you know." And that's how we ended up on a bus, headed god knows where. We pull up in front of Starcourt Mall a little while later. "So, what do you think?" Max looks at El's worried face. "Hey, what's wrong?" "Too many people. Against the rules." "Seriously? You have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?" We run inside the mall and stop in the middle of the food court. El turns in a circle, taking everything in. "So, what should we do first?" El doesn't answer and Max chuckles softly. "You've never been shopping before have you? Well, then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything." We run inside The GAP, and El looks at everything on display. She stops when she sees a mannequin wearing a blue shirt with a pattern on it, and Max looks at the shirt before looking back at the other girl. "Do you like that?" "How do I know... what I like?" "You just try things on. Until you find something that feels like you." "Like me?" "Yeah. Not Hopper. Not Mike. You." So we end up trying clothes on for a good twenty minutes. When we leave The GAP we go to a place that takes vintage style portraits, and get a bunch of pictures taken together. Once we're done there, we go to a shoe store, where El wants to try on her first pair of heels. Max helps her walk in them, and she does pretty well. But then her ankle twists, and her and Max end up on the floor, laughing hysterically. A group of four older girls looks at them in disgust, but they just laugh again; later in the food court, we see the same four girls, holding smoothies from Dairy Queen, talking to a cute boy. So we hide behind a pole and El makes one of the smoothies explode with her powers, spraying all four girls and even getting some on the boy. We decide to get some ice cream before we leave, so we head over to Scoops Ahoy, the ice cream shop. I stop as the boy behind the counter turns around when we enter, and burst out laughing. "Steve? This is the job your dad forced you to get? You realize I'm never letting you live this down, right, pretty boy?" "Ha-ha, laugh it up, shrimp," Steve jokes, opening the freezer and picking up his scoop. "What can I get you guys?" I end up ordering cookie dough in a waffle cone, Max gets strawberry, and El gets vanilla with sprinkles. Once we all get our ice cream cones, Steve looks at El in confusion for a moment. "Okay, here you go, you got a strawberry, you got a cookie dough, and then a vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream. Wait a second, are you even allowed to be here?" "No, she's not allowed to be here, Steve. Why, you gonna tell Hopper on us? You realize I could easily ruin your reputation if I told people where you're working and what you have to wear, right?" "Geez, Nyssa, give me some credit. I can keep a secret, don't worry. I'll see you later." "Yeah, see you, Harrington." We run out of the mall to catch the bus, then Max sees something to our right, and she stops walking, glaring in that direction before storming over. I look over and see Mike, Lucas and Will just getting ready to climb on their bikes. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me. Well, isn't this a nice surprise." Mike drops his bike when he sees his girlfriend, dropping his bike and pointing at her. "What are you doing here?" "Shopping." "This is her new style. What do you think?" Max asks. "What's wrong with you? You know she's not allowed to be here." "What is she, your little pet?" "Yeah. Am I your pet?" "What? No!" Then why do you treat me like garbage?" "What?" "You said Nana was sick." "She is. She is. She is sick," Mike looks at Lucas. "Yeah, sick- she's sick," Lucas agrees. "She's super sick." "That's why we're here, actually." "Yeah, we're shopping. Not for us, but for her, for Nana. Also, we're here to get a gift for you. Just, we couldn't find anything that suited you and I only have, like, $3.50, so it's hard." "Super hard," Lucas agrees. "It's- it's expensive." "You lie," El glares at Mike. "Why do you lie?" Mike doesn't say anything, and just then the bus pulls up. El looks back at it, then turns to Mike. "I dump your ass," she says before storming off. We get on the bus and ride back to Max's house. Eventually El needs to get back home, so she invites Max over. We walk back to the cabin, and I settle back in with my book while the girls go into El's room. I hear Angel by Madonna playing after a moment, and I hum along to the song until it stops part way through. Max pokes her head out of El's room and says they're gonna try and spy on Mike and Lucas to see if they're wallowing in self-pity yet. So I mark my page in my book and go into the bedroom, sitting on El's bed. Max sits next to me after she turns the radio to static, and El ties her blindfold over her eyes. "Is this really gonna work?" El nods. "Holy shit, this is insane." "Max!" "Yeah, quiet. Sorry." El speaks quietly a moment later. "I see them." "What are they doing?" "Eating," she pauses a moment. "They say we are 'species'." "What?" "'Emotion, not logic'." "What?" El rips her blindfold off a moment later. "What? What happened?" Instead of answering, El bursts out laughing. "What... What? What happened?" Suddenly we hear the sound of Hopper's truck pulling up, and we turn the radio back to music. I slip out of the room and sit on the couch with my book just as Hopper comes in with an almost empty bottle of wine, obviously drunk. "Hey, you're home early. What happened?" He doesn't answer me, instead he heads straight for El's room. "Hey! Hey! When I say three inches, three..." he pauses a moment when he sees El and Max. I have to laugh at his obvious embarrassment. "Do you knock? Geez!" Max says. "Yeah, geez!" El repeats. "Oh, hey. I'm sorry. I thought that, uh-" "Mike's not here," Max replies. "Max and Nyssa wanted to have... a sleepover. Is that... okay?" "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Your parents know about it?" "Yup," Max says. 'Not that they'd care either way', I think to myself. "I'm an adult, Jim, I don't need my mom's permission." "Uh, yeah, it's cool. Yeah. That's- that's really cool." He stands in the doorway until Max speaks up. "Did you need something?" "No, no. Uh, I'll leave. I'll just let you... I'll leave you..." He shuts the door and sits in his recliner with the bottle of wine. I mark my page and turn to him with a smirk. "You know you're not allowed to take alcohol home from Enzo's, right?" "I can do whatever I want, I'm chief of police." I laugh and turn my attention back to my book, only half paying attention to whatever Jim is watching on tv. Then I decide to go check and see what the girls are up to. They had gotten a game board, written names on pieces of paper, and put a bottle in the middle. "Holy shit, I can't believe we're really doing this." "Don't tell me you guys are about to spy on random people. Because if so, I'm definitely in," I sit on the corner of the bed. "Ready?" Max asks. "Ready," Max replies. El reaches for the bottle and spins it. We all read the name aloud. "Mr Wheeler." "Ugh. Boring." Max says. "Yeah, boring," El agrees. "Against the rules?" "We make our own rules." El spins again and this time the bottle lands on Billy's name. I bite my lip on a gasp, anticipation making my heart slam in my chest. I'm about to find out where Billy has been for the past week and a half. Max stands up to grab the radio off El's dresser. "Okay, look, I should just warn you, if he's with a girl or doing something gross, just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life." A small noise escapes despite the fact I'm biting my lip. Is that what's going on here? I never even considered the fact that Billy could be cheating on me. But what if he is with a girl? I haven't seen Heather around for a couple days either. "Max." "No, I'm just saying, I'm serious. He's really gross!" "Hey! Seriously, Max?" I say. "Max!" El says. "Okay, shutting up now." El ties her blindfold over her eyes as Max turns the radio to static. The room is silent as a tomb for a second. "I found him," El finally breaks the silence. "What's he doing?" Max and I reply. "I don't know. He's... on the floor... talking to someone." I can physically feel my heart break a little bit. Then El rips off the blindfold. "What is it? What happened?" When we wake up, Hopper is asleep in his chair. I tuck a blanket around him and kiss his forehead. El writes a note to her dad and then we go to Max's house. El and Max talk about what she saw last night, and I listen. "It's gonna start pouring soon. We should be at the mall or, like, watching a movie or something." "You don't believe me?" "I believe you saw some super weird stuff, totally, but you said Mike has sensed you in there before, right? So maybe it was just like that. Maybe Billy just... sensed you somehow." "But the screams." "Yeah, I know, but here's the thing. When Billy is alone with a girl, they make, like, really crazy noises." "You're not helping my anxiety here, Maxie," I interrupt. "Sorry, Nyssa, I was just saying. I doubt he's cheating on you, he loves you." "They scream?" "Yeah, but, like... happy screams." "Happy screams? What is happy screams?" "It's like..." Max sighs. "I'm just gonna lend you my mom's Cosmo." When we get to Max's house, she stops with a frown. My heart sinks when I see his car is gone. I was hoping he'd be home, hoping everything was fine. But of course that's not how things work in Hawkins. "His car's not here," Max says, looking at El. "You really wanna do this?" El nods and we head into the house, going straight for Billy's room. Max opens the door and looks around for a moment. "Why do I get the feeling we're gonna find all kinds of wrong in here?" Max opens Billy's bedside table drawer to find issues of Penthouse. "Ugh. Gag me with a spoon." We follow behind El as she opens Billy's bathroom door. The bathtub is full of water, with a few plastic bags floating in it. "Max," El says. "Ice. It's just ice," Max picks up a bag. "Probably for his muscles or something. He works out like a maniac." El turns to the sink, opening the cupboard underneath, taking out the garbage can. "El, what is it?" El reaches inside the garbage can and pulls out a lifeguard fanny pack. There's rivets on it that I instantly recognize: it's Heather's. Billy is cheating on me. With Heather fucking Holloway. Which is sort of a relief, because at least he's not cheating on me with Mrs Wheeler. But then she pulls out a yellow whistle covered in blood. So then we decide to go to the pool so the girls can return it to her. Hopefully. We walk up to the desk to see my manager and the other female lifeguard reading magazines. "Excuse me," Max says. "No one in the water until thirty minutes after the last strike," my manager says without looking up. And don't try and argue with me. You wanna get electrocuted, go climb a tree." "Yeah, we don't care. We're not here to swim. Or get electrocuted." El takes the fanny pack out of her pocket. "We found this." "Does that belong to anybody here?" "Oh, yeah. That's Heather's. I'll get it back to her." "We could give it back to her," El replies. "You could. 'Cept she's not here. Bailed on me today." My hand flies to cover my mouth as I let out a sob. Max wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me against her side. My manager looks up as we continue to stand there. "What is it? You girls want a reward or something?" "No. We're just... Good Samaritans," Max replies. El turns and walks toward the board with pictures of the lifeguards on it. Max and I follow behind her, and I grab the picture of Billy and slip it in my pocket. "Heather," Max says. "You think you can find her?" El turns to see if the lifeguards are paying attention, then takes the picture of Heather. We go into the girls locker room, and Max and I turn on the showers as El finds a diving mask. She puts black tape over the mask, and sits cross-legged on the floor with the picture of Heather in front of her. Max and I sit on the bench next to her and wait. "What do you see?" El asks after a moment. "A door. A red door," she says before ripping off the mask. "What happened? El!" El tells us that she saw Heather in a bathtub full of ice, and Heather saw her too, and asked for help. She said she saw a house number, and a house with a red door. So that's how we ended up biking through the rain. We stop in front of a mailbox that El said had the number she saw on it. "Is this it?" Max asks. Max looks at El for a moment, and she nods, so we walk up to the door. El uses her powers to open the door, and we walk in slowly to see a hallway full of pictures of Heather and her parents. "This is her house," Max says. "What?" "Heather's house." We hear a man and woman laughing, so we follow the sound further into the house. We end up in the doorway of the dining room, and my heart does a backflip as I see Billy sitting at the table. He's wearing a blue dress shirt with all the buttons fastened. I feel my knees buckle, but Max catches my elbow before I collapse. "Max," he says, ignoring me. "We didn't mean to... barge in. We tried to knock, but... maybe you didn't hear us over the storm." "I'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" Mr Holloway says. Billy chuckles softly, setting down his napkin and walking over to us. "I'm sorry. Janet, Tom, this... is my sister, Maxine. What on earth are you doing here? Is something wrong?" "We just wanted to make sure everything was okay." "Okay? Why wouldn't it be okay?" "Where is she?" El asks. "I'm sorry. Where is who?" "Well, they're a little burnt, I'm sorry." "Heather! This is my sister Maxine. And, I'm sorry, I did not quite catch your name." "El." "El. Now, what is it you were saying, El? You were looking for somebody?" "I- I saw- I saw you-" "Your manager. At the pool," Max interrupts. "He said you guys didn't come in to work today, so we got worried." "Heather wasn't feeling so hot today, so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health. But you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?" My heart breaks as Billy smiles at Heather. The smile I thought was reserved just for me. She smiles back as she answers. "I'm feeling so much better. Do you girls want a cookie? They're fresh out of the oven." I turn on my heel and rush out the door, dropping to my knees on the lawn with a sob. Max and El follow behind me and Max kneels next to me, wrapping her arms around me. I wrap her in a hug, hiding my face in her shoulder. "He knew her parents first names, Max. He was sitting there, eating dinner with her family. Laughing and joking like they've known each other forever. How long have they been together? Seeing each other behind my back?" "Hey, shh, it's okay Nyssa. That might not be what it looked like. We don't know that's what that was. Maybe he was just taking care of her while she was sick, and her parents invited him to stay for dinner." "Yeah, maybe you're right. Come on, let's go home, we're getting all wet out here." We go back to Max's house and take warm showers. Then I grab the cot from Billy's closet, pulling it into Max's room. El climbs into bed next to Max, who holds up two comic books. "Which one?" "I don't know." "Hey, there's nothing to worry about anymore, okay?" "It doesn't make sense." "What doesn't make sense?" "Heather. The blood. The ice." "Heather had a fever, so she took a cold bath but she's better now. That has to be it. I don't know where that blood came from, but... we saw her. We all saw her. She's totally fine." "What about Billy?" "What about him?" "He seemed wrong." "He seemed wrong." "Wrong is kind of like his default. But it's nice to know it's not a murderer, because that would have totally sucked." "Who... is that?" El points at a Wonder Woman comic. "See, this is why you can't just hand out with Mike all the time. This is Wonder Woman, AKA Princess Diana. She's from Paradise Island which is, like, this hidden island where there are only women Amazon warriors." We stay up a while longer reading comic books and gossiping before we fall asleep. We're woken up the next morning by Lucas' voice coming from Max's walkie. "Do you copy? This is a code red. I repeat, this is a code red. Max. Do you copy? This is a code red." Max picks up her walkie. "Shut... up." Since Max shut off her walkie, the phone rings a second later. Max groans and scoffs, getting out of bed to answer it. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm sleeping, go away." I faintly hear Mike's voice from the other side of the phone. "This is Mike. Do not hang up. Something happened, something bad. Our very lives could be at stake." "What are you talking about?' "Just come over to my house. We'll explain everything." "What?" "Hurry." El sits up a little. "What did he say?" We get dressed and bike over to Mike's house, greeting Mrs Wheeler going down to the basement. "Hey, what's going on guys?" I sit on the floor next to Max. "I didn't think it was anything at first," Will says. "I mean, I think I just didn't want to believe it. The first time I felt it was at 'Day of the Dead'." "Power went out that day, too," Mike interrupts. "And I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm, too. Then again yesterday outside Castle Byers." "What does it feel like?" Max asks. "It's almost like... you know when you drop on a roller coaster?" "Sure," Mike says. "Yeah," Max agrees. "No," El and I say together. "It's like.. everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but... this is worse. Your body... becomes cold, and- and you can't breathe. I've felt it before, whenever he was close." "Whenever who was close?" "The Mind Flayer." "I closed the gate," El says. "I know, but... what if he never left? What if we locked him out here with us?" Will grabs a piece of paper and a black crayon, slapping the paper down on the table. We gather around as he starts drawing. "This is him. All of him. But, that day on the field, a part of him attached itself to me. My mom got it out of me... and Eleven closed the gate. But the part that was still in me, what if it's still in our world? In Hawkins." "I don't understand," Max says. "The Demodogs died when Eleven closed the gate. If the brain dies, the body dies." "We can't take any chances," Mike replies. "We need to assume the worst. The Mind Flayer's back." "Yeah," Will finishes. "And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me." "A new host," Lucas interrupts. "How can you tell if someone is a host?" El asks. Will explains and I think back on the weird way Billy's been acting lately. So we decide to go to the pool to investigate. "I don't know, he looks pretty normal to me," Max says, looking through binoculars. "Normal? How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?" Lucas says. "I mean, it's a little weird," Max says. "More than a little," Mike cuts in. "He was in a tub with ice. The Mind Flayer likes it cold. Plus everything else-" "But he's lounging at the pool, which is, like, the least Mind Flayer thing ever." "Not necessarily," Will says. "The Mind Flayer likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me. It's like... like you're dormant. And then, when he needs you, you're activated." "Okay, so we just... wait until he gets activated." "No. What if he hurts someone?" "Or kills someone?" "Billy wouldn't do that. I know him better than anyone here. Except Max." "We can't take that chance. We need to find out if he's the host." Mike walks away. "Where are you going?" El asks. "I have an idea. Boys only." "Seriously?" Max says. "Just trust me on this one." "Don't you hurt him, Mike Wheeler. I'll never forgive you." Mike, Will and Lucas walk away, toward the pool. We all stand there for a while before we follow. El and I go into the storage room and Max heads toward the maintenance shed. When we get to the storage room, El picks up a CPR dummy, hoisting it onto her shoulder. Then Mike comes in to the room with us. "Hey, I found the breakers," then he sees the dummy. "Woah, that thing is super creepy. Let me see it. I think this'll work. Right, buddy?" El rolls her eyes and takes the dummy back. We're about to walk out of the room when Mike speaks up again. "Hey, El... I just wanted to say... you know when I said Nana was sick? She wasn't. I lied." "I know," we say at the same time. "Right, right, right. No, I just... think it was important for you to know the context. Hopper, he went all crazy on me, telling me I'm spending way too much time with you. He made me lie. I mean, you're the most important thing to me in the world." "What if he's right?" El throws the dummy down. "What?" "Hop," El says. "No, no, no, no. He's just some angry old man who hates joy," Mike says. "But if I only see you, and I'm a different species than you, then I should be with my species more." "What are you talking about?" Mike gasps. "Did you spy on me? That's totally against the rules." "I make my own rules," El replies, picking up the dummy and walking away. We finish setting up the trap for Billy, and a cold ball of dread settles in my stomach. I feel like I'm gonna throw up while I wait with Mike to start the plan to find out if he's the host. I would almost rather he be cheating on me, at least then he would stay alive at the end of all of this craziness. I nibble on my lip nervously and eventually taste blood. The boys cause a distraction so that Billy has to come investigate. They padlock the door so he has no choice but to go further in to the locker room, toward the sauna, and then mess around with doors and lockers. I hear his voice calling out and then his footsteps. "Pool's closed. Hey. Do you hear me?" Billy bangs on the padlocked door. Then Mike calls out to him with the walkie. "Billy." "Who's there," he responds. "Billy," Mike sing-songs. Billy sing-songs his reply. "Who's there?" "Billy! Billy!" "You think this is funny, huh?" "Billy," Mike replies. "Come and find me." "I find you, it is your funeral." "Come and get me. Come on! Billy!" "Got you," Billy rounds the corner and sees the mannequin in the sauna. "Come and get me, you piece of shit," Mike says, and I smack his shoulder lightly. Billy opens the sauna door, sees the mannequin hanging there, and he grabs it by the neck, lifting it over his head. Then El sneaks into the sauna/gym area behind Billy, and Mike speaks into the walkie again. "Hey. Behind you." Billy turns to see El standing there, and she throws him into the wall. I scream softly, running into the sauna area with the boys and Max following right behind me. El slams the door shut and Mike slides a metal pole through the handle. Then Lucas and Will wrap a chain around the handle and the pole to keep the door shut, padlocking the chain together quickly. Billy slams his hands against the door repeatedly, and I sob softly as Max hugs me. Finally, Billy locks eyes with his sister, and I hide my face. "Max." "Do it," we say in unison. Will runs to the thermostat outside the sauna, turning it all the way up. Then he steps back and we watch the sauna. "Max! Let me out of here!" Billy pounds on the door. "Let me out. You guys... you think this is funny? You kids thing this is some kind of sick prank, huh? You little shits think this is funny? What is this? Open the door. Open the door! Open the door! Open the goddamn door!" Suddenly, Billy's face disappears from the window as he drops to the floor. Excruciating screams come from inside, and my heart stops for what feels like a minute or two. Will runs to check the thermostat, and looks back at us. "We're at 220." Suddenly, the sound of soft sobs come from inside the sauna. Billy speaks, his voice full of fear and sadness. Max and I walk slowly toward the sauna, looking in the window at Billy. Everything in me is screaming to unchain the door and run to him. "It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault." "What's not your fault, Billy?" "Baby, I'm here, it's okay," I whisper softly. He locks eyes with me, and my heart breaks. His expression is full of the same fear and sadness that's in his voice. "I've done things, baby. Really... bad things. I didn't mean to. He made me do it." "Who made you do it?" "I don't know, it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow. Please, Max." I let out a choked sob as Billy confirms my greatest fear: he's the Mind Flayer's new host. And if we don't get it out of him before El closes the gate again, he's gonna die like the Demodogs did. I'll lose him all over again, for good this time. The strength goes out of my legs as Billy sobs, and I would have fallen if Max hadn't been holding my waist. "What did he make you do?" "It's not my fault, okay? Max, please," Billy sobs, then he catches my eye again. "Please, believe me, princess, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did. Please believe me, baby. Please believe me." "Billy, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay," I put a shaky hand on the window. "We want to help you. We want to help you, baby. You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us. We'll figure it out together, okay? I need you to trust me. Please." "Guys, get away from the door," Mike's voice comes from behind me. "What? No, no way. I'm not leaving him, Mike. He needs me. We have to help him, Mike. He needs us." "Get away from the door!" Mike screams. Billy punches the glass out of the door, and Max and I scream. I wrap myself around her and turn my back to the door to shield her. Billy screams, his face full of rage instead of fear. I back Max and I into a corner, as far from him as we can get. "Let me out, you bitch! Let me out! I'll fucking gut you!" Billy reaches for the metal bar and tugs it out of the handle. "Let me out!" Lucas takes a stone out of his pocket and puts it in his slingshot. Then he shoots it toward Billy, hitting him right between the eyes. "Guys, come on!" Lucas waves us over. We all gather in the middle of the room, El shielding us, and me shielding El from Billy. Tears of fear and sorrow run down my cheeks as I hear gurgling and choking sounds coming from the sauna. Then Billy slams his entire body into the door until it breaks. As he stalks toward us, El picks up a barbell and throws it at him. I scream as it pins him against the wall by his neck, and I hear him choking and a cracking noise. I don't know if it's his bones, or the wall, or both. "El, please! You're killing him!" I sob. Max blocks my line of sight, looking into my eyes. "It's not him right now, Nyssa." "But... he's in there, Max. That's his body, and his mind at stake. If we can't separate them, and El closes the gate-" "Nyssa, stop. We'll figure that out later. Right now we have to get out of here alive." All of a sudden, Billy pushes the barbell away, throwing it at El. She screams and dives to the floor, and I pull Max against my chest, shielding her from getting hit by it. El tries to crawl away from Billy, but he kneels and grabs her by her hair, then wraps a hand around her throat, squeezing and choking her. Then he stands up, lifting her over his head and dangling her in the air. Before I can even react, Mike had grabbed the barbell and hit Billy over the head with it. He raises it and prepares to hit Billy again, and I react out of instinct, grabbing it and holding it so Mike can't swing it. Billy turns over and grabs the bar, yanking it out of Mike's hand and throwing it. He stalks toward the younger boy but El uses her powers to lift Billy off his feet and turn him toward the sauna. He screams in pain and chokes, gasping for air as El holds him there. Then she throws him through the wall with a scream. I scream and run toward the hole in the wall, scrabbling over the bricks and stepping through. I kneel on the ground next to him, reaching out a hand to cup his cheek. He groans and places his hand over mine for a moment, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Billy, Billy baby. Are you okay?" "Princess... stay away. I don't want to hurt you." "God, Billy, I am so sorry. I know none of this is your fault. I'll fix this somehow, I'll figure it out." Billy doesn't answer, he just nuzzles his cheek into my palm. Then he stands up and runs off into the night, stumbling a little and almost falling a couple times. I don't get up from the ground until Billy disappears in the dark. Then we end up back at Mike's house, where El tries to see if she can find Hopper. We greet Mrs Wheeler on the way to the basement, where Mike finds a bandana for El. The boys sit on furniture and I sit next to Max on the floor. It's silent except for the static from the television until El speaks. "I found him." "Where is he?" Max asks. "Woods. He's with... Will's mom." "My- my mom?" "What are they doing?" "Ill... annoy. They're going to Ill-annoy." We're interrupted by a knock on the basement door. "Mike! Breakfast!" "Not now, Mom!" Mike turns back to El. "Illinois? Illinois like the state? The state of Illinois?" "Ill-annoy," El stammers. Max and I take El into the bathroom to clean up. As Max cleans the blood from under El's nose, El looks at the bruises on her neck in the mirror. "Does it still hurt?" Max asks. "Only when I talk." "El, you know Billy would never hurt you, right? The only reason he did is cause he's possessed. You heard him in the sauna, he was broken up about the things the Mind Flayer made him do." "I know," El replies. "Well, it's a good thing you're not Mike, then. 'Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah'. And you'd be in constant pain." "Something's not right. I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence." "What does it matter? The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us." "Up to us to do what exactly?" "Find Billy and stop him." "Okay, yeah, that's a really sentiment, but even if El could find him again, and that's a pretty big if, then what?" "We burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn't escape this time." My blood freezes in my veins as I listen to the boys talk. No matter what, they're planning on killing Billy if they get the chance. "Okay, then what?" "Then we win." "No, see, that's the problem. We don't. We don't win. We got the Mind Flayer out of Will before and he just came right back. We don't just have to stop Billy, we have to stop the Mind Flayer." "How in the hell do we do that?" "I don't know." "Maybe El does," Will interrupts. "What are they still doing in there?" Mike asks. "I don't know. Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms," Lucas replies. "Why?" "I mean, I don't know." "They're conspiring against me." "That's what's you're concerned about right now?" "It's not my main concern. It's just a sub concern." "I thought it was already over." "It's not over okay? We're just taking a break." "She said she dumped your ass. That doesn't sound like a break." "It wasn't! You guys do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?" "Conspiring. I told you, they're conspiring," Mike whispers. We hear a knock at the door, and he yells. "Not now, Mom!" "Mike, open the door," Nancy's voice calls out. We walk out of the bathroom just as Nancy and Jonathan walk downstairs. As we all sit down, Nancy explains what she experienced at the hospital last night, and earlier this week at the woman's house. "It was the same thing, the exact same thing that happened with Will last year. And look at this. Look at the body temperatures." Will points at one of the temperatures, and we look over at the paper. It says 95 degrees, and all the other temps are around the same. "He likes it cold," Will says. "Okay, so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer-" Mike says. "Mrs Driscoll." "Right, yeah, Mrs Driscoll. What time was this attack?" "Last night." "Right, but what time last night?" "Around 9:00." "You waited all night to call?" Jonathan says. "I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests." "You weren't there?" "Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" Jonathan throws his hands up. "Hallelujah!" "Ooh," Lucas says quietly. "Um, so, wha- what time was your... sauna test?" "Around 9:00," we say unison. Max wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Well, that proves it. That proves my theory." "She's flayed, just like Billy," Mike says. A quiet sob rips from my throat. "Flayed?" Jonathan asks. "The Mind Flayer. He flays people. Takes over their mind. Once he does that, they basically become him." "If there are two flayed-" Lucas cuts in. "We have to assume there are more." Will finishes. "Heather. Billy was doing something to her," El says. "She was scared. She was screaming. Bad screams." "What's a good scream?" Lucas asks. "Max said-" "Doesn't matter." Max interrupts. "I'm sorry, I'm lost. Who is Heather?" Nancy says. "She's a lifeguard at the pool," Max and I say. "Heather Holloway?" We all nod, and Nancy and Jonathan speak at the same time. "Tom." That's how we all end up piling into Nancy's car and driving back to the Holloway's house. My heart skips as I look at the house, because last time I was here I was convinced Billy was cheating on me but it turned out to be so much worse. Now he's possessed, alone, and terrified, broken up and feeling guilty about the things the Mind Flayer is making him do. We all walk up to the door, and Nancy rings the doorbell a couple of times. Then her and Jonathan look back at El, and she opens the door with her powers. As we walk inside the entryway, Nancy calls out. "Tom? Heather? Jesus, it's freezing." We end up in the living room and I notice a really strong chemical smell. Like, strong enough it's burning my nostrils. "Do you smell that?" Nancy asks. We wander further into the house and then see a ton of chemicals on the kitchen counter, some tipped over and spilling onto the floor. One or more of them are apparently so caustic that they melted a corner of the counter. "God. More chemicals." Jonathan picks up one of the containers. "You think they're guzzling this shit?" "Yeah, either that or they just went on a hell of a cleaning spree." "But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals," Max says. "Did you?" "No. This is something new." "Mr Clarke, fifth grade. Posit. What happens you mix chemicals together?" Mike asks. "You create a new substance," Will and Lucas speak in unison. "What if they're making something?" "In themselves?" Max asks. "I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you." "Yeah, if you're human," Lucas says. We leave the kitchen and enter the dining room. The meal from the other day is still set out on the table. Nancy notices something on the rug in the living room, and I see the wine bottle Mrs Holloway was drinking. It's laying on the rug on its side, empty. Nancy kneels down to look at a stain on the rug. "Blood. Yesterday, Tom had a bandage on his forehead," she picks up the wine bottle. "He was attacked." We keep walking deeper into the house and eventually end up in the garage. There's some rope on the floor, and Jonathan kneels to examine it, looking over at the kids and I for a moment. "They must have tied them. They must have taken them somewhere." "Mrs Driscoll," Nancy says. "She kept saying... 'I have to go back'. What if the flaying, it's taking place somewhere else? There must be a place where all this started, right? A source." "Somewhere he didn't want me to see," El says. "If we can find the source, them maybe we can stop him," Nancy says. "Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals." "How do we find it?" El says. "Mrs Driscoll," Will says. "If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?" So we all pile into Nancy's car again and drive to the hospital. We walk to the nurse's station and keep moving, hoping the nurse doesn't notice us walking by her since she's on the phone. But unfortunately she does. "Woah, woah, woah! Excuse me!" she says. "Where do you think you're going?" Nancy turns back to the nurse. "Oh, um... I was just going to visit my grandma again. And- and this... this is my family." "Extended," Lucas says. "I don't care who they are. You know the rules. Two visitors at a time." "Yeah, but-" "Two!" she picks up the phone again. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here." In the end, we collectively decide that Nancy and Jonathan are gonna go see Mrs Driscoll. I wait in the waiting room with the kids, who all move to different corners of the room. Mike and Lucas go to the vending machine to get a snack, Will sits on a chair, and El and Max stand over by one of the magazine racks. Mike puts change in the vending machine and presses a couple buttons for the candy he wants. A Kit-Kat starts to fall, but then it gets stuck. "Oh, come on, you piece of shit!" "Mike! Language! And quiet, there's sick people here." The boys hit the vending machine a few times, then a ton of candy explodes down to the bottom. El wipes the blood from her nose off on the back of her hand, looking over at the boys. The boys look over at her, and Lucas shrugs, bending to grab the candy out. Mike nods at his ex-girlfriend before bending to help Lucas. "Thanks." "Dude, I think that was it," Lucas says. "That was what?" "The olive branch." "The what?" "Oh, my god. You're hopeless. Okay," Lucas places a hand on Mike's shoulder. "I'll distract Max, get you an opening. And then talk to her. All right?" He takes a bag of Reese's Pieces over to his girlfriend, and a moment later he's tossing them and she's trying to catch them. El is sitting on a chair, flipping through a magazine. Will is sitting a few chairs away from her, and Mike sits in between them. When Mike gives him a look, Will gets up and walks away to a different corner of the room. "Hey," Mike says. "Hi," El replies. "Does your species like M&M's?" El holds out a hand; Mike gives her some. "I like the new look, by the way. It's cool." "Thanks." All of a sudden the lights in the waiting room start flickering. Will stands up, walking to the middle of the room. Then the rest of us notice and we walk over to Will. He slowly brings a hand up to touch the back of his neck. "He's here." We run over to the elevator, and El presses the button repeatedly. "Stairs," Mike says. We turn and race up the stairs as quickly as we can, and reach a hallway just in time to see a piece of the Mind Flayer disappear under a door about halfway down the hall. El uses her powers to open it, and the door explodes into the room. We see that the creature has Nancy backed into a corner, trapping her inside the room. As it advances toward Mike's sister, El throws it against the wall with a yell. Then she slams it against the other wall, the ceiling and the floor. The Mind Flayer turns and advances on the kids and me, and El throws it back with a scream. It flies back and through the window, falling three stories to the parking lot outside. Jonathan runs to his girlfriend and we use the elevator to go to the ground floor, running outside to see the Mind Flayer moving toward a sewer drain and disappearing. We end up going back to Hopper's cabin, and El goes into her room to see if she can find the flayed. The rest of us wait outside the room for her to come back out and tell us if it worked. Mike paces back and forth, his worry evident on his face and in his posture. "It can't be good for her to be in there this long? What if she gets brain damage or something?" "Oh, shit," Lucas says. "Is that, like, a real thing?" "No, it's not. He made it up." Max says. "Mike doesn't know what he's talking about." "Oh, and you do?" "No, I..." Nancy is on the phone talking to someone. "Yes, from 'The Hawkins Post'. I- I called a couple days ago about the-. Yes, yes, um... I was just... following up to see if anything else had gone missing, or if- okay. Um, sorry to bother-" I faintly hear the dial tone, and Nancy hangs up, walking over to Jonathan. He crosses something out in Hopper's phone book. "Who's next?" "There is no next. Unless you want to start calling random people's homes," Jonathan says. "It doesn't make sense." "What part of any of this makes sense?" "There's a pattern, okay? A consistency to their behavior. They've been feeding on these chemicals since this starte, and- and, what, they just stop, out of the blue?" "Maybe they have all the chemicals they need. Maybe they've all turned into those... things," Will says. "But what about the source? I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people? And even if the flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?" I look up and walk over to Nancy and Jonathan as Max and Mike do the same. "Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us? Who do you think should decide El's limits? Mike or Eleven?" "The way that you frame that is such bullshit," Mike interrupts. "It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem. And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass." "El dumped you?" Nancy says. "Yeah, because she is conspiring against me. She's corrupting her." "Hey, watch it, that's my sister," I cut in. "No, enlightening her. The fact is, she's not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions." "She's risking her life for no reason." "Mike, the flayed are out there doing god knows what." "Killing, flaying..." Lucas cuts in. "Transforming into monsters," Will says. "It's not for no reason, Mike. Billy is out there somewhere, infected, confused and terrified. Not to mention feeling guilty for all the terrible things the Mind Flayer has made him do." "And El's not stupid. She knows her abilities better than any of us." "Exactly, thank you," Max says. "And she is her own person," Nancy continues. "Exactly." "With her own free will." "Exactly. El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her." "You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?" "Wait, what?" Lucas cuts in. "Oh, she didn't tell you about this? " "No." "Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us." "No, she didn't-" "No, no, no, I did not make her. It was her idea." "It was, I was there." "And why are we even talking about this, seriously?" "Yeah, who cares?" "I care," Lucas says. "Yeah. I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy." "We were just joking around," Max says. "Wouldn't it've been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" "You weren't," Max and I say. "But what if I was?" "Then gross!" "Seriously, Mike?" Nancy says. "I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are. You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again." As Mike is speaking, El comes out of her room. We all stare at her, but Mike is on a roll and he doesn't notice until she speaks up. "What's going on?" "Nothing. Nothing," Mike says. "Just family discussions," Lucas adds. "Oh," El is quiet a moment. "I found him." "Found who?" Nancy says. "Billy?!" I stand up quickly. After a minute we're all sitting in Hop's living room, the tv is on static and El has her blindfold on. I hold Nancy's hand in a death grip, tears stinging my eyes but refusing to fall. El rips off her blindfold moments later, breathing heavily. She says she found Billy, that he's just sitting in his room doing nothing. Billy's alive and okay, and where he is. Then she walks into the kitchen to get a drink. The rest of us discuss what we just learned. "And that's not normal, right? Billy staying in his room on the Fourth of July?" Max asks, answering her own question a moment later. "No that's not normal." "He wants us to find him," Will says. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," Nancy replies. "If we go to Billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are." "It's a trap, I agree. We'll be ambushed." Mike answers. "We won't be surprised," Lucas says. "We'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts." "You mean El will kick their butts," Max says. "It's too risky." "Killing the flayed won't stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it's spreading from. We have to find the source." "Billy knows it," El answers. "Billy's been there. To the source." "Yeah, but-" Mike tries to argue. "It's a trap. I know." El cuts him off. "We can't go to Billy, but I think there's another way. A way for me to see where he's been." El walks over to the tv, turning it on to static and sitting in front of it. She's about to tie the blindfold on when Mike kneels next to her for a moment. "El, I know you think you have to do this, but you don't. It's just, you've only don't this before once. And your mom, she loved you, and wanted you to know what happened. And Billy's mind is- is sick, diseased. The Mind Flayer is in him." "He can't hurt me. Not in there," El says softly. "We don't know that," Mike says. El takes her boyfriend's hand, speaking to him softly. "Mike. I need you to trust me." Mike looks over at Max and me, and we both raise our eyebrows. Then he looks back at his girlfriend. "Yeah. Just... be careful." The younger Wheeler sits back in Hopper's armchair, and El ties her blindfold over her eyes. After a moment, he speaks up. "El, are you okay? Are you okay?" "I'm okay," she says softly. I press myself tighter to Max's side and she pulls me close, running her fingers through my hair. I beg any god or cosmic entity that may or may not be listening that if there was any way we could save Billy, they would help me find it. "What's going on?" "I'm... on a beach." My heart skips a beat, stops and then kicks back up. It kicks back up so fast and hard that I feel it in my neck. "Okay, I may be dense," Lucas says. "But the last I checked, there weren't any beaches in Hawkins." "What else do you see?" Max says. "A woman. She's... pretty. I... I think she's looking at me. There's... a boy. It's Billy." "It's California. It's a memory," Max says. "She's right, it's a memory. I was there, that day. It was the last time we ever saw Billy's mom." "I think I see it. The source." El says. I grip my hands together tight enough that my knuckles turn white. Nancy wraps her arm around my waist, and I rest my head on her shoulder with a small sob. Every minute we spend looking for the stupid sound is a minute we're not spending trying to figure out how to get the Mind Flayer out of Billy so he doesn't die when El closes the gate. The silence draws out longer and longer, until El finally speaks. "I think I found it. The source." "Where, El? Where are you?" "Brimborn... Steelworks." Jonathan runs over to the phone book, grabbing it off the counter and running back, flipping through it to the yellow pages. "Here. Okay, uh, steelworks, steelworks... uh... Here, steel. Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive." "That's close," Nancy and I speak. "El, El, we found it. Get out of there. Get out!" Nothing happens for an agonizingly long time, and then El finally rips off the blindfold, breathing heavily. After Mike helps her calm down, she sits on the couch in between Max and me. I wrap her in a hug and stroke her hair softly. "Thank you, El. You did so good. We found Billy and now we can figure out how to help him." 

"He said he was building something. That it was all for me," El says slowly.

"Building something?" Max asks. "Is he talking about the flayed?"

"He must be," Nancy says.

"So he's building an army, just like we thought," Lucas says.

"Yeah, but he's not building this army to spread," Mike cuts in.

"He's building it to stop Eleven," Will finishes.

"Last year, El closed the gate on him. I have a feeling that really pissed him off," Mike says.

"Like, royally," Lucas cuts in.

"And the Mind Flayer now knows that she's the only thing that can stop him. But if she's out of the way-"

"Game over," Lucas finishes.

"He also said he was gonna kill all of you," El says.

"Yeah, well, that's nice," Max says, and I hug her.

I think I hear a faint screech from outside, but no one else seems to hear it. So I brush it off, until Nancy walks slowly toward the window. "Do you guys hear that?"

"It's just the fireworks," Jonathan says.

"Billy... when he told you this, it was here, in this room?" Nancy asks, and El nods.

Everyone hears a distant banging this time, and Will rubs the back of his neck. "He knows we're here."

We all stream out of the cabin and look in the direction of the noise. We don't see anything for a while, until finally the Mind Flayer breaks through the trees. We all scatter in different directions. I take the kids inside to barricade the windows and back door, and Nancy and Jonathan search for weapons. Once they come back inside, they lift the couch up against the front door.

"Hey, get away from the windows," Nancy says.

We all gather in the middle of the cabin, until one of the Mind Flayer's arms crashes through the wall. Jonathan hacks at it a couple times with the ax he found, until it knocks him into the wall. So Nancy shoots it three times, emptying the shotgun. The arm heads straight toward her, until El uses her powers to stop it, ripping it off with a yell. The arm retreats, almost hitting Max on the way out. We don't have a chance to rest before two more crash through the walls, but El rips them both off, moments before another crashes through the wall behind her and catches her ankle. Mike, Max, Jonathan, Will and I grab her arms and try to pull her out of the monster's grip as Nancy fumbles to reload the shotgun.

"Nancy shoot it!" Jonathan yells. 

Nancy finally loads the shotgun, and fires into the Mind Flayer's mouth. At the same time, Lucas picks up the ax that Jonathan dropped, steps up on the table, and hacks at the monster's arm three times. Finally, he cuts through, and we all fall in a heap on the floor. Mike rips the end of the arm off of El's leg, and she screams in pain. Nancy keeps firing until the shotgun is empty, and then El stands up, using her powers to rip the monster's head in half. Then she stumbles back, but Max catches her.

"Go, go, go!" Nancy yells.

"Come on! Come on! Go!" Jonathan yells.

"Go!"

"Hurry up! Come on!"

Mike and Max support El, and we all run out of the cabin.

"Everybody out!" Mike shouts.

"Go!" Jonathan repeats.

"Go, come on!"

"Go, go, go, go!"

We pile into Nancy's car and drive to the nearest convenience store, running inside and heading straight to the first aid aisle. Mike and Max lower her down, and Nancy grabs rubbing alcohol and gauze pads, coming back to us and kneeling next to El. When she rips open a gauze pad, Max stops her. "What- what- hey, what are you doing?" "I'm cleaning the wound," Nancy replies. "No, first we need to stop the bleeding, then clean disinfect, then bandage," everyone looks at her, confused. "I skateboard, trust me." I sigh softly, knowing full well she doesn't just know that from skateboarding. She knows cause she's had to clean Billy up when I haven't been able to for one reason or another. Max looks at Mike, taking his hand. "Mike, hold this. Keep the pressure on it, nice and firm, okay?" Then she looks up at me, Jonathan and Nancy. "We're gonna need water, soap." I hear Lucas dump his backpack out on the floor. "Does any of this help?" "No. Go get me a washcloth and a bowl." "A bowl?" "Lucas." "What did that thing look like to you?" Nancy says as I follow along behind them in search for water and soap. "Like that thing in the hospital, only bigger," Jonathan replies. "Yeah, a lot bigger. Like, Tom and Bruce, they merged to become one, right? And- and Driscoll kept saying how she needed to go back to the source-" "Wait, you think Driscoll's in there?" "Maybe. And- and- and maybe Heather and Janet, too, and god knows who else. I don't know how we're gonna kill this thing, but if we do-" Nancy says. "We kill all the flayed," Jonathan finishes. "Billy..." I whisper softly, nibbling my lip. "And... we end this. Maybe. All I know is... we need El." "Hey, guys, I'm gonna go find Lucas and Will, see if they need help." When I find the boys, they're in the cereal aisle, most likely looking for a bowl. "Bowl... bowl... why wouldn't it be with the cereal?" Lucas says. "I don't know," Will replies. "What else do you use a bowl for?" "Um, soup. Chili, ice cream, stew, chowder..." I laugh softly. When we get to the end of the aisle, we turn left, then stop in our tracks. We're facing a display of fireworks for Fourth of July. "Oh, shit," Lucas says softly. "Satan's Baby. You ever shot one of these suckers?" "No, is it sweet?" Will asks. "Oh yeah, it's sweet," I reply. "That's an understatement." "That doesn't look like a bowl," Max comes around the corner and walks toward us. "Nah, it's way better. There is a reason this warning label says '18 or older'. This sucker is filled with 150 grains of black powder," Lucas says, tossing it at Max. She catches it as Lucas continues. "AKA gunpowder. Strap two of these together, and it's better than an M-80. Five of them, we got ourselves a stick of dynamite." "You wanna kill that thing with fireworks?" Max and I look at Lucas, confused. "Do you have a better idea?" Lucas asks. "Yeah, Eleven," the two of us say in unison. "Against that thing? She's gonna need some backup." I don't want to leave Mike and El alone for too long, so I go to find them, just in time to overhear part of a conversation. "Does that hurt?" "Um, not bad." "You're gonna have an awesome scar. You'll look even more badass." "Bitchin'" "Yeah, bitchin'," I stand at the end of the aisle, not wanting to interrupt, as Mike continues. "El..." "Yeah?" "I've been meaning to tell you something. It's just, being broken up, it's been hard. And... I like that you and Max are friends now. It's just, I was jealous at first, and- and angry. And that's why I said all that stupid stuff. And it's like, I wanted you all to myself. And now I realize how unfair that is. And selfish. And, like... I'm sorry. I just, like, I've never felt like this, you know, with anyone before... and..." Mike sighs softly. "You know, they do say it makes you crazy." "What makes you crazy?" El asks, confused. "You- you never heard that term? You know, like the phrase, like... 'blank makes you crazy,' like the word..." "'Girlfriends?'" "No, no, no, no, not- not girlfriends." "'Boyfriends'." "No! No, no, not boyfriends either. It's like- it's like a feeling or..." "A feeling..." "Yeah, like something... like, old people say it to each other sometimes." "Old people?" "Yeah. What I wanna say is... that I just... I know that I-" Suddenly Mike is interrupted by a garbled voice from his walkie. "I repeat... this is a code red!" Mike grabs his walkie, answering the call. "Dustin?" "Mike?" "Dustin!" "Mike! Oh, my god, you have to listen. I know I've been MIA, and I'm sorry, it's not because I'm mad. I mean, I actually was mad, but it's also because I was trapped underground in a secret Russian base." "Dustin, you're going way to fast. I can't understand you." "I know that sounds insane, but the Russians have infiltrated Hawkins! The goddamn Russians! And now- they're using- to open the gate." "Dustin, you're- you're breaking up." "And now they're after us and we don't have a way out of here, so I need you to come and get us. Can Nancy drive?" "Dustin you're cutting out." "Mike?" "Dustin, you there?" "Mike? Mike do you copy?" "Dustin- Dustin!" Nancy and Jonathan come around the corner. "What is it?" Mike gathers all of us, and we head slowly to the freezer aisle. Then Mike explains what little he heard between the static. El decides to see if she can find Dustin, so Lucas gives her his bandana. We open a few freezer doors so she can use the humming to concentrate. It's quiet for a few minutes, then Lucas cracks open a can of soda. The sound is loud in the quiet of the convenience store. "Quiet," Max whispers. "Oh, sorry," he replies. "How do you even drink that?" Mike asks. "Because it's delicious." "What?" Mike and Max reply. "It's like Carpenter's 'The Thing'. The original is a classic, no question about it. But the remake..." he takes a sip. "Sweeter... bolder... better. "You're insane." "So, you prefer the original 'Thing'?" "What? No, I'm not talking about 'The Thing,' I'm talking about New Coke." "It's the same concept, dude." "Uh, actually, it's not the same concept." "It is the same concept." "No, it's not." "Yes, it is," Lucas yells. "Hey," El rips the bandana off. "Sorry," they reply. "Did you... find him?" El nods, so we head toward the parking lot, talking along the way. "The movies? Dustin's so freaked out about the gate, he decides to go watch a movie? Yeah, makes total sense." "You're positive he said 'gate' and not 'great'?" "Yeah, like, 'This movie I'm watching is great.'" Will cuts in. "Sounded like gate," El says. "Which would explain how the Mind Flayer's still alive." "Yeah, we just have to shut it again," Nancy says. "The monster dies," Mike finishes. "But if not, we always have Lucas' fireworks," Max says sarcastically. "Keep mocking my plan, Max. Keep mocking it. I wanna hear you say it again, cause you keep doubting me. You keep doubting me!" "Ridiculous," Max says. "Will?" Lucas says. "We're gonna prove 'em wrong, right?" We all pile in Nancy's car after Lucas, Mike and Will put the fireworks in the back. Then we drive to the mall, and by the time we got inside, we saw the rest of our friends being stalked by five strangers. So El uses her powers to throw the car that's in the middle of the mall at them. Before the noise even stops echoing, I'm off like a shot, running down one of the stopped escalators toward Steve. I come to a stop in front of him, scanning his face concernedly. He looks like he's been through absolute hell the past twenty-four hours. "Goddamn, Steve, what happened to you? Who hurt you, I'll kill them." Steve laughs softly, pulling me into a hug. "Like Dustin said, it was the goddamn Russians. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Dustin laughs as he come to a stop, hugging El and Mike. "You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!" "Lucas?" Erica, Lucas' little sister speaks up. "What are you doing here?" Lucas asks. "Ask them. It's their fault," she cocks a thumb at Steve. "True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault," Steve says. "I don't understand what happened to that car," Robin, Steve's coworker, says. "El has superpowers," Dustin answers. "I'm sorry?" "Superpowers. She threw it with her mind. C'mon, catch up," Steve cuts in. "That's El?" Erica asks. "Who's El?" "I'm sorry, who are you?" Nancy asks. "I'm Robin. I work with Steve." "She cracked the top secret code," Dustin interrupts. "Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians," Steve finishes. "Russians? Wait, what Russians?" Jonathan asks. "The Russians," Steve gestures in the direction of the car. "Those were Russians?" Max says. "Some of them," Erica finishes. "What are you talking about?" Lucas asks. "Didn't you hear our code red?" Dustin asks. "Yeah. Couldn't understand half of what you were saying," Mike says. "Goddamn low battery," Dustin says in exasperation. "How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery? Steve says, and I laugh. "Well, everything worked out, didn't it?" "Worked out? We almost died," Erica says. "Yeah, but we didn't, did we?" "It was pretty damn close," Steve says. I wrap my arm around Steve's waist with a shudder, and he pulls me close, kissing the top of my head. "Okay, Russians?" Lucas asks. "As in, they're working for the Russian government?" "What are you not comprehending?" Dustin says in irritation. "Am I not speaking English? We have a full-blown 'Red Dawn' situation." "So this has nothing to do with the gate?" Mas asks. "It has everything to do with the gate..." We're interrupted when El falls to the ground with a grunt. We all run to her, and Mike kneels next to her. "Woah, woah, woah. El! El! What's wrong? What's wrong?" "My leg. My leg," El groans. "Her leg, her leg. Okay," Jonathan rolls up her pant leg to look at the wound. "Get that off," Nancy says. "Okay," Jonathan pulls off the gauze slowly, and we all make a noise of disgust. "El! El, are you okay?" Mike says as her groans get louder. "El! El! El!" I wrinkle my nose in disgust as something in El's leg moves. "What is that?" Erica asks. "There's something in there," Mike says. "Jesus Christ," Dustin says. "Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" Jonathan says. "Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake, stay awake. Lets get her on this side, on this side. Easy, easy, easy, easy." Mike says. "It's, uh... you know, it's not actually that bad. There was a... the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and the bone came out of her knee, like six inches or something, it was insane," Robin says. "Robin," Steve cuts her off. "Yeah?" "You're not helping." "I'm sorry." He runs toward one of the restaurants in the food court, coming back a few minutes later with a large knife, wearing a pair of the gloves employees have to wear to serve food. He kneels next to El, looking at her. "Okay. All right, El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay? Need you to stay real still. Here, you're gonna want to bite down on this, okay?" He hands over a wooden spoon, and El bites down on it. Jonathan hesitates for a moment. "Do it." "Okay," he says, and cuts slowly into her leg. "Jonathan!" Nancy says. "Stop talking!" He digs around for a moment, until she yells. "Goddamn it!" "No! Stop it! Stop! Stop! I can do it. I can do it." She uses her powers to pull a piece of the Mind Flayer out of her leg, throwing it halfway across the food court. The windows in the store next to us shatter outwards. It tries to scurry away, until a large boot comes down on top of it, squishing it. We all look in that direction and see Hopper standing there with Joyce. I don't know how they found us, and I don't care. I jump up and run across the food court into his arms. Then we walk back toward my friends. Hopper asks what the hell is going on, and I stand next to Steve, wrapping my arm around his waist. "The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins, to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world," Mike says. "And it almost did. That was just one tiny piece of it." "How big is this thing?" Hopper asks. "It's big. Thirty feet, at least," Dustin says. "Yeah. It sorta destroyed your cabin. Sorry," Lucas cuts in. "Okay, so, just to be clear, this... this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic... weapon? But, instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon... with melted people," Steve asks. "Yes, exactly," Nancy responds. "Yeah, okay. I- yeah, I'm just making sure." "Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce asks. "El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it's still alive," Max replies. "But if we close the gate again-" "We cut the brain off from the body," Max cuts in. "And kill it. Theoretically," Lucas finishes. Suddenly, we hear a voice from the mall entrance. I look over to see a man I don't recognize. He's waving papers over his head. Once he reaches us, he slaps the papers down on a table. "Okay, this is what Alexi called 'the hub'. Now, the hub takes us to the vault room," he says, pointing at a hand-drawn map. "Okay, where's the gate?" Hopper asks. "Right here. I don't know the scale on this, but I think it's fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so." "More like five hundred," Erica interrupts. "What, you're just gonna waltz in there like its commie Disneyland or something?" "I'm sorry, who are you?" "Erica Sinclair. Who are you?" "Murray... Bauman," the man says slowly. "Listen, Mr Bunman," Erica holds up a hand. "I'm not trying to tell you how to do things, but I've been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you're all gonna die." "I'm sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?" "Um, I'm ten, you bald bastard!" "Erica!" Lucas exclaims. "Just the facts!" "She's right. You're all gonna die, but you don't have to," Dustin interrupts. "Excuse me. Sorry, may I?" "Please," Murray says. Dustin takes the pen and map from Murray, sitting in a chair. "Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility. There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way." "You can show us the way?" Hopper says. "Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your... navigators," Dustin says. "No. Nope," Hopper objects, searching the dead men for weapons. I hop up on a counter next to Steve, my leg pressed against his. I watch what Hopper is doing, and I can faintly hear Erica and Dustin speaking to Lucas, Mike and Will. "Well, that settles it. He's gonna die. They're gonna die." "Yep, most likely." "You guys survived," Lucas interrupts. "Barely. We could've really used you guys down there." "Could've used you up here, too," Mike says. "Yeah, man. We missed you, dude," Lucas says. "Yeah. Big time," Will finishes. "I missed you guys, too. Big time," Dustin says as he hugs his friends. "Please don't cry, nerds," Erica says. "Erica," Lucas snaps at his sister. "Keep saying my name, see what happens," she shoots back. After a few minutes, Hopper walks towards the kids. "Hey, heads up. You can navigate, just from someplace safe." "It's not that simple," Erica says. "The signal won't reach. Not with this," Dustin interrupts. "You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait. That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start. And a car." Before Steve and Robin leave with Dustin and Erica, I jump off the counter and run into his arms, squeezing my eyes shut as a tear runs down my cheek. "I don't want you to go, I just got you back. You could have died, Steve. The Russians could have fucking killed you. And that monster is out there, somewhere. Please, don't go." "Hey, squirt, come here, it's okay. I've got to make sure Dustin and Erica are safe. But I'll be back before you know it, I promise you." "You better, Harrington. I'm gonna lose Billy when they shut that gate. I can't lose you too." Joyce expresses worry that Will won't be safe in the mall, so Murray offers the use of his safehouse. He digs a set of keys out of his pocket, explaining to Jonathan and Nancy what each one is for. "Bottom lock, second to top lock, third to top lock, top lock." While he's doing that, Joyce and Hopper are talking to Will and El. I sit silently next to the only father I've ever known, pressed against his side as he talks to El. But I'm still able to hear Joyce talking to Will, so I listen to her for a while as Hopper tries to think of what to say. "Listen to me, I need to end this, but I will be back before you know it, okay?" "I don't know, Mom," Will says. "No, listen. You're gonna be safe there. It's- it's far away from all this. You just stick close to your brother and- and do whatever he says. No matter what. Okay?" "I'm not worried about me, Mom, I'm worried about you." "Oh, honey, I'm gonna be fine. Okay? I'm gonna be fine," Joyce pulls Will into a hug. "Okay, Mom. Okay, Mom, that's enough," Will says. "Okay, Mom, I can't breathe. You're suffocating me." "My battery's low, but... it will recharge," El says finally. "I know it will, kid. I know," Hopper replies. "I can fight." "Better than any of us. But right now, I need you safe. I need to know you're both safe. This thing is after El, it's not after me. Do you understand?" Hopper tucks El's hair behind her ear. "Hey... I need you to understand. Okay?" "Hey. We should probably go." Mike says, and we all look up. Before we leave, we both hug Hopper tight. Then Mike and Max help El up, supporting her. I give Hopper one last hug before I stand up and jog toward the kids. We haven't walked very far before we hear his voice calling out. "Mike?" Mike turns around to face Hopper for a moment, but the only thing he says is a warning to be careful. After Mike promises that he will, he walks back to El, and we walk away. I turn around and take one last look at Hopper. "I love you, please be careful. We need you." "I know, sweetheart, I will. Take care of your sister." "Always," I turn around and blink tears away. "You okay?" Nancy asks. "Yeah, I'm all good. Just worried, but I'm alright." Once we reach Nancy's car, Mike and El climb in the back. I climb in the middle with Lucas and Will, and Jonathan climbs in the passenger seat next to Nancy. She turns the key, but the engine doesn't turn over, so she tries a couple more times. "What's wrong?" Jonathan asks. "I don't... I don't know," Nancy replies. "You can't be serious. Come on!" "Didn't your mom just buy this car?" Lucas asks. "Yes. I'm sure it's fine.' "Did you leave the lights on?" Will asks. "No." "Do we have gas?" Jonathan asks. "Yes!" Nancy snaps, turning the key again, hard. "Come on!" "Woah, woah, woah! Just stop, stop!" Jonathan says. "Pop the hood." Nancy climbs out after Jonathan, and I can faintly hear what they're saying. "What the hell?" Jonathan says, looking under the hood. "What?" "The ignition cable's gone." Suddenly the roar of an engine cuts through the air. A very familiar car engine. I look out the window and see Billy's Camaro across the parking lot. He revs the engine a couple times, and I whisper his name softly. Then Nancy knocks on the passenger window on Will's side, pulling on the handle. "Back in the mall! Go! Go, go, go!" "Be careful!" Mike shouts. "Go, go! Go, go, go!" Once we get back in the mall, Mike grabs his walkie and tries to get a hold of the rest of our friends. "Scoop Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, do you copy? Scoops Troop, I repeat, do you copy? We're trapped in the mall and in need of emergency transportation. Scoops Troop, do you copy? Billy has found us. He has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall. Repeat: Billy has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall." I'm standing next to Max and Will, watching Nancy search the bodies for weapons. I nibble my lip nervously, looking back and forth between my sister and the mall entrance. Everything in me is screaming at me to walk out of the mall and help Billy. "You're gonna kill him, aren't you?" Max asks. "Like hell she is!" I snap, glaring at my best friend. "This is just a precaution, okay?" "And not just against Billy," Will says. "If he knows we're here, so does the Mind Flayer." Meanwhile, Mike continues to try and reach the rest of our friends. "Scoops Troop, I repeat, we are in need of emergency transportation. Do you copy? Scoops Troop, do you copy?" "No chance that thing'll drive, right?" Nancy asks. "We don't need it to drive," Jonathan and I say at the same time; I go silent and let him finish. "We just need the ignition cable." And that's how all of us besides Will and El end up on the counter by the overturned car, trying to push it back over. Then El speaks up, stepping forward a few steps. "Let me try." "El..." Mike says. "I can do it," she interrupts, stepping forward again. We all climb down and stand behind her and Will while she tries to tip the car back over with her powers. She tries twice, and it doesn't work, so she walks away in frustration. Mike tells us to grab some metal poles lying nearby, and we climb back up on the counter, attempting to push it over again that way. And we manage to tip it a little bit, then we take a break. "All right, great. All right, now, all the way. Ready? Alright on three. Three, two, one... push!" Mike says eventually, and we all strain to push the car again, and we're finally able to tip it back on its wheels. "Told you. Physics." Nancy and Jonathan attempt to pull the hood open, but it doesn't budge. "How do we get it open?" Nancy asks. "Uh, there should be a latch. Check under the wheel. You see it?" "I don't know, hold on." While the couple tries to get the hood open, I go to stand by Max and Mike. "What's she doing?" Max asks as we look at El. All three of us look toward my sister and watch her root through the trash cans in the food court. Finally she finds what she's looking for: an empty Coke can. She sets it on a ledge, and we walk toward her. "El. Are you okay?" MIke asks. Suddenly Max and I hear crashing from outside the mall. We look up and see the shadowy figure of the Mind Flayer through the skylight. "Mike," Max says softly, and he looks up. "Nancy!" By then we can hear the creature snarling, and we run from the middle of the food court. Nancy, Jonathan, Will and Erica run to hide behind the car, and I go with El, Max and Mike to hide behind a pillar. Moments later, the Mind Flayer crashes through the skylight and lands with a roar. Then we hear Dustin's voice from the walkie. "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop, do you copy? Griswold Family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you- Griswold Family, do you copy?" The Mind Flayer picks up the walkie and roars into it before tossing it aside. Dustin's voice comes from it, garbled. "Griswold Family, this is Scoops Troop! Please confirm your safety! Are you en route to Bald Eagle's nest? Please confirm your safety! Someone, please just answer. Is anyone there? Just answer! Anyone, please... Griswold Family, do you copy? Griswold Family, do you copy? Griswold Family, do you copy?" Mike peeks over the wall, then sinks back down. "It's turned away. If we go up the stairs now, we'll make it." "No way, not with El's leg," Max says. "We have to try." "There's another way... to get out. Through the GAP." El says. Mike peeks over the wall again. "Okay. Now." We run toward the GAP undetected by the Mind Flayer. We would have made it, but Max trips over a mannequin. An arm moves right past us, grabbing a mannequin wearing the same outfit El is wearing. The monster would have found us but there was a loud pop of a balloon from outside the store. The Mind Flayer turns and goes toward the sound, so we're able to run out the back of the store and through the halls. I hear gunshots, and my blood runs cold. I just pray that Nancy is a terrible shot. Suddenly I hear the roar of the Camaro, and then a crash. I'm terrified that Billy just got hurt, or worse, but when we finally reach the parking lot, we see him limping toward us. We have to turn around and run back through the halls to get away from him. We end up finding an elevator, so we try and use it to get back inside. But then we hear a door opening down the hall, and Max and I peek around the corner. My heart squeezes painfully when I see Billy. I can tell he's getting worse, he's got black veins all over his arms. I silently promise him I'll figure this out, I'll save him somehow. "Billy," Max says as he walks toward us. "Billy, you don't have to do this. Billy. Your name is Billy. Billy Hargrove. You live on 4819 Cherry Lane. Billy, please, I'm Max, I'm your-" I scream as Billy throws Max against the wall, then he turns to me. I put my hands up slowly. "Billy. Baby, please, baby it's me. It's Nyssa. I'm your girlfriend. You're my best friend, Billy, we've known each other our entire lives. Bill-" Billy shoves me against the wall, and I land with a grunt, passing out a moment later. By the time I wake up, Billy is gone, and so is El. I scoot slowly over to Max and shake her shoulder gently. "Hey, Max. Sweetheart. Help me wake up Mike." "Mike... Mike. Mike. Mike. Mike. Mike, get up. Mike, can you hear me? Mike! Mike!" Max shakes him gently, and he finally comes around. "Hey, come on. You okay?" He stands up and looks around. "Where's El?" I look around, and when I realize El is missing, I'm off like a shot, heading toward the food court. I probably should have looked to see if Max and Mike were behind me, but at the moment the only thing on my mind is my sister and my boyfriend. I make it to the food court to see Billy crouched over El; I don't even notice the fireworks overhead at first. El is speaking to him softly, and I sneak closer to hear what they're saying. "Seven... feet. You told her... the wave was seven feet. You ran to her, on the beach. There were seagulls. She wore a hat... with a blue ribbon. A long dress... with a blue and red flower. Yell- yellow sandals, covered in sand. She was pretty. She was really pretty. And you... you were happy." As El's hand reaches up to cup Billy's cheek, I gasp softly, and my hand flies to my mouth. I know right away El is talking about Billy's mom. Because I remember that day, I was there. It was one of the last times we ever saw her. Only then do I realize that not only are my friends throwing fireworks, but every time one hits the Mind Flayer, it hurts Billy a little bit too. Then he stands up slowly, putting himself between the monster and El. As a tentacle shoots toward my sister, my boyfriend catches it, pushing it back. I kneel down next to my sister, and we watch him. It seems like he might be okay, but then everything goes sideways. 

"Billy!! Billy no!!" I scream as I watch two of the Mind Flayer's tentacles impale my boyfriend. Quicker than I can blink, they're followed by four more before a final one impales him right in the heart. "No!! No, no, no, no. Steve, somebody, call an ambulance!" I run up to the monster right as it drops him, catching him and lowering us both to the floor. I pull him into my lap, take my shirt off, and wipe the blood from his chin and neck. Then I press my shirt over the wound by his heart. "Hey, baby, shh, it's okay, I've got you. You're gonna be okay, Billy, help is on it's way. Just hold on, okay?" 

Billy tries to talk, and I shush him. He reaches a hand up to cup my cheek, and I place my hand over his, trembling slightly. "Hey, shh, it's okay. I've got you Billy, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. You're gonna be okay... please, you've gotta be okay. I can't lose you, Billy, I just got you back. Please."

I feel like I'm in a vacuum then; I hardly hear the Mind Flayer's screams of rage and pain. I barely notice anything going on around me until Max walks slowly up next to us. Only then do I realize that she saw everything that just happened. "Billy," she says softly, and he coughs softly. She gets on her hands and knees next to her brother, speaking in a panicked rush. "Billy, Billy, get up, please. Billy, get up, please, please." "I'm sorry," he speaks, voice choked with blood. "Billy..." Max whispers. "Baby, shh, we know. It's not your fault, okay? None of it was your fault. You're gonna be just fine, okay? Don't try to speak, the ambulance is on its way. You're gonna be okay, Billy," I'm not even sure what I'm saying. Then Billy exhales sharply, and my heart stops for a moment. "Hey, no, don't close your eyes. Stay awake, please, just al little while longer. Please, Billy, baby, don't leave me." "Billy, wake up. Billy, get up. Please, Billy... Billy! Billy!" Max leans back, and I pull her into my arms, stroking her hair. "Billy... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, baby. I've got you, okay?" I whisper softly, lifting Billy into my lap, rocking him gently. Finally, I hear the distant sound of sirens getting closer. A couple moments later, Steve appears at my side.

"Nyssa, look at me," my eyes snap up to meet my best friend's as the paramedics rush into the mall. "We have to get him to the hospital. If he's alive they can help him, okay? You have to let him go so they can help."

"No, I can't, I promised. Steve, I promised I wouldn't let go," I hold Billy tighter.

"I know, squirt, but you've got to let them do their job. If you don't let them do their job, he dies."

I look up at the female paramedic, tears flowing down my face. "Please, don't let him die. Do everything you can. He's my entire world, and his sister needs him." As the paramedics lift Billy gently up onto the stretcher, Max following behind, I throw myself into Steve's arms with a sob. "Can you drive me to the hospital? I don't think I should get behind the wheel right now."

"Of course I'll drive, come on," I followed Steve out to his car.

I'm in such a state of shock that I don't even really check on El or Max before walking out. I stared silently out the window the whole way to the hospital. Steve reached a hand over to take mine, and I squeezed it tightly as he drove. When we pulled into the parking lot, I could tell right away that it was bad. There were doctors and nurses waiting, and they quickly rushed Billy into the hospital, running off to some operating room or something. Then the doors to the hospital flew open, and the rest of my friends come streaming into the waiting room. I run to Max and El, pulling them into my arms. I can feel them both trembling, and I kiss the top of their heads.

"Hey, guys, did you get checked out? Are you okay? Hop and Billy will kill me if you're not okay."

"I'm okay, just tired," El says. "But dad... he..."

When El explains, I let out a choked sob, hugging her tighter. I can't believe this is happening, we have nowhere to go now. "Hey, shh, he'll be fine. I'm sure he just jumped through the gate. We just need to figure out how to open it again. Okay? We'll get him back, I promise you."

"Billy," Max says, interrupting me. "Where's Billy? Is he okay?"

"I don't know, Maxie, they won't tell me anything. They'll only talk to you, Neil or Sharon."

The doctors were attempting to contact Neil and Sharon, but they got no answer. Which wasn't really a surprise in the slightest; Neil probably would care less if Billy didn't make it. Steve gently touched my arm, and I turned to look at him.

"There's nothing we can do right now. He's in the best place he could be, he's got tons of people helping him. The best thing for him right now is if you take care of yourself. How about you sit down and I try to find us and the kids some food?"

"I'm not hungry, Steve," I slide down the wall and pull my knees to my chest. "Neil and Susan won't show up, you know. Neil could care less if he..."

Steve kneels in front of me, lifting my face so I meet his eyes. "Hey. Hey, he's gonna be fine. It's Billy, he's a fighter, I should know," I giggle softly as Steve continues. "They're gonna get him better and he's gonna be so happy to see you."

Robin slides down the wall to sit next to me as Steve went to get us soda and candy, then all we could do was wait for their parents to show up. I didn't know how some of them were gonna explain what happened tonight. Of course Joyce and Hopper know about the weird shit that happens in Hawkins, but that's a different story. After a few minutes, Steve comes back, pulling me against his side as he sits down next to me. I wrap my arms tightly around my best friend, my exhaustion and fear pouring out all at once. I sob until I can't anymore, and then fall asleep even when every fiber of my being fights against it. But it doesn't last long until the terror seeps into my dreams, and I wake up with a scream, looking around apologetically. 

"Any news yet? Is he gonna be okay? At some point, you would think the doctors are gonna realize that his parents aren't coming, and talk to Max. But they may not, who knows?" I open my mouth to continue but feel like I'm gonna throw up instead, so I run toward the bathroom. I've barely knelt in front of the toilet before I throw up the contents of my stomach.

"Yeah, Max told them as much." Steve leans against the doorjamb awkwardly. "So they finally told her he's gonna be okay. He's still out, obviously, but... he's actually gonna be okay. Tough as nails, what'd I tell you?"

I stand up and throw my arms around my best friend's neck with a sob. "Thank god he's gonna be okay... I guess I better keep my promise and let them check me out, then I need to see him."

"Please let them do their job. Don't think I haven't seen your limping, shrimp," he smiles and pulls me against his side. "The doctors put Billy in his own room. Max is there now, I should go check on her. See you in a few minutes."

"Yeah, Billy might have..." I mumble the rest under my breath. "Thrown me against the wall." I bring Nancy into the room with me, cause I have a secret I've been keeping from everyone. I smile at the nurse when she comes in.

"Hi, I'm Denise, how can I help you?"

"Hi, nice to meet you. I just wanted to get my right arm and leg checked out. And..." I take a deep breath, knowing what I'm about to say is gonna be a bombshell to Nancy. "I think I might be pregnant. My period is three weeks late, but I've always been really regular."

"Of course, we can get that checked out for you. We'll take some xrays, and then it's just a simple blood test to check if you're pregnant."

"Okay, xrays of my arm and leg won't expose my baby directly to radiation, that's fine."

After my xrays and blood test, it's just a matter of waiting for the nurse to come back. She comes back in with a smile, pulling my xray up on her computer. "Well, it doesn't seem like anything's broken. Just wear this brace for three weeks and you should be good."

I quirk an eyebrow, nodding slowly. "Okay, and..."

"Congratulations, Nyssa, you're six weeks pregnant. I heard you came in with Billy Hargrove? You can see him now if you want, I'll take you to his room. A couple of your friends are already there."

I follow behind the nurse in a daze. I can't believe I'm pregnant, what is Billy gonna say? This is gonna change everything; what if he leaves me? We're so young, he's probably not ready to be a dad. What if he never wakes up? I can't raise this baby on my own. Finally we walk into the room and I smile at Steve.

"Are you okay? What did they say? I knew they should have checked you sooner. You should sit," Steve talks a mile a minute, jumping to his feet and crossing the room in a few steps. Then he suddenly staggers and faints.

"STEVE!! Oh my god, Nancy, go get a nurse," I catch him before he hits the floor, lowering both of us down. I brush his hair away from his face. "You stubborn asshole, they probably told you that you should get checked out."

A nurse comes in and lifts Steve gently into the other bed in the room, checking his pupils and his pulse. "Looks like it was just the adrenaline, his pupils are reactive. He should wake up on his own, just give him a little time."

Finally Steve starts to stir, then sits up slowly, looking around until our eyes meet. "Shit, Nyssa. Are you okay? What happened?"

I throw my arms gently around my best friend's neck, then smack his arm. "Jesus Christ, Steve, you scared the hell out of me! Yeah, I'm fine, just bruised. What about you, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing. Had a headache and stuff. Feel fine," Steve says, unconvincingly. "How's Max? Any news on Billy?"

"They said he's in a coma, all we can do is wait. They said..." I take a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut. "They said there's a good chance he might not wake up. What am I gonna do if he doesn't make it? I cant live without him, Steve, I'll be alone."

"Shh, Nyssa, it's gonna be okay. I'll be here for you, don't worry. You won't be alone, you'll never be alone," Steve strokes my hair gently.

Once I make sure Steve is alright, I sit by Billy's bedside, holding his hand gently. I sit with him until the nurse says visiting hours are over, then I stand up and kiss his cheek softly. "I'll be back in the morning, baby, okay? I love you so much, you've gotta wake up, okay? I'll just be out in the waiting room in case Max wants to come to Steve's."

I sit in the waiting room for a while until Max comes out, then we take the bus to Steve's place. I had already asked him to drop by my house and pack me a bag, cause I really don't want to go home. So the three of us stay at Steve's, staying awake for a while and watching movies before we go to sleep.

The next morning I let them sleep, getting dressed, going downstairs and grabbing some coffee. Then I take the bus to the hospital, getting there just as visiting hours are getting started. Billy's nurse is checking him over and reading his chart, but she looks up as I come in, smiling brightly at me. I do my best to return her smile, but it probably doesn't work well.

"Good morning, you're here bright and early. My name is Allie, I'll probably be Billy's nurse for the week."

"Nice to meet you, Allie. I'm Nyssa, Billy's girlfriend. How's he doing, any better?" 

"No change yet, sadly, but don't give up hope. It's still early, he could still wake up."

"Do you think I could... would it be okay if I laid in bed with him? I don't want to hurt him or anything."

"No, actually that's a good idea. It's no problem at all."

"Do you think it would be alright if I played some music? I read somewhere that music can sometimes help people when they're in a coma. I won't play it loud, just loud enough for us to hear it."

"Yeah, of course, go right ahead. You're right, there's been studies that show music can sometimes help people come out of comas."

"Alright, awesome, thank you Allie."

After I make a quick call to Max, I climb into bed next to Billy, laying my head gently on his chest. A little while later Steve and Max come in, and Steve hands me a bottle of water. "So no news yet, huh? Did you sleep at all last night?"

"I slept a little between the nightmares, yeah. I wanted to get here early, I didn't want to miss it if he woke up. Max, did you bring the stuff?" I had asked her to bring the boom box and some mix tapes from Billy's room. I hoped not all of them were in his car when it caught fire.

"Yeah, we stopped by our house on the way here," she plugged in the boom box as she talked. "It's what I could find. I'm telling him it was your idea if he gets mad. I'm not supposed to be in his room."

Steve raised an eyebrow in question. "What are you doing? I don't think they'll let us play music."

"Don't worry, I already cleared it with his nurse. I'm not gonna play it loud, just enough for us to hear it. I heard something once that playing music for someone in a coma could help them wake up. So I'm gonna try," I pick a tape at random, and Purple Rain starts up when I press play. I bite my lip hard enough to draw blood to try and keep the tears from falling. It's the song that was playing when Billy kissed me for the first time. "Come on, please let this actually work, please let this not be bullshit."

"Hey, come here," Steve pulls me into his side, stroking my arm gently. "Don't do that. You're allowed to be sad. To be scared. To feel."

I finally allow myself to break down, turning and wrapping my arms tightly around Steve's waist. Billy and I are the same in that we don't like showing weakness. There's very few people I'll actually let see me cry. Only my small group of friends, and my mom. After a while I pull away, perching on the edge of Billy's bed and taking his hand gently. For a while, the only sound is the mix tape. I try to sing along to Faithfully, but my voice breaks, so I just hum along.

"Maybe you can raise the volume a little," Steve says after a while. "C'mon, Hargrove. You're more stubborn than this. You really gonna miss out on making fun of my work uniform? Teasing Nyssa for being friends with me? What would we do without your snarky insults?"

I turn up the volume a little, and Another One Bites the Dust comes on. It's one of your favorite Queen songs. I can't help but get a little hyped, cause I love it, too.

Oh, let's go

Steve walks warily down the street  
With the brim pulled way down low  
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet,  
Machine guns ready to go

Are you ready, hey, are you ready for this?  
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?  
Out of the doorway the bullets rip  
To the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust  
Another one bites the dust  
And another one gone, and another one gone  
Another one bites the dust  
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too  
Another one bites the dust

How do you think I'm going to get along  
Without you when you're gone?  
You took me for everything that I had  
And kicked me out on my own  
Are you happy, are you satisfied?  
How long can you stand the heat?  
Out of the doorway the bullets rip  
To the sound of the beat

Another one bites the dust  
Another one bites the dust  
And another one gone, and another one gone  
Another one bites the dust  
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too  
Another one bites the dust

Hey  
Oh take it  
Bite the dust  
Kinda dusty!  
Hey  
Another one bites the dust  
Another one bites the dust oww  
Another one bites the dust hey hey  
Another one bites the dust eh eh

Oh shoot out  
There are plenty of ways that you can hurt a man  
And bring him to the ground  
You can beat him, you can cheat him  
You can treat him bad and leave him when he's down

But I'm ready, yes, I'm ready for you  
I'm standing on my own two feet  
Out of the doorway the bullets rip  
Repeating to the sound of the beat oh yeah

Another one bites the dust  
Another one bites the dust  
And another one gone, and another one gone  
Another one bites the dust  
Hey, I'm gonna get you, too  
Another one bites the dust  
Oh shoot out, hey hey, all right

After the last notes of the song fade out, I take my boyfriend's hand and study his face. "Come on, Billy, fight like hell. I can't live without you, please."

Suddenly his hand squeezes mine softly, and his heartbeat speeds up a little. Was Billy trying to wake up, or was it just his brain reacting to the music? I prayed to anyone who might be listening, but it didn't work.

"Hey baby, it's me. Steve and Max are here too. If you can hear me, can you squeeze my hand? I'm right here, Billy, I'm not going anywhere."

Max went to the other side of the bed and took Billy's other hand. It felt like you could hear a pin drop as we all held our breaths, as if we were scared to break the spell in a way. After what felt like hours, I felt Billy squeeze my hand lightly again; I look up to see Max' shocked face, so I could only assume he squeezed hers, too.

"Come on, Billy. You can't leave Nyssa here all alone. Boys will be after her like drooling zombies," Steve says softly.

I let out a semi-hysterical giggle. "Yeah well, they can try all they want. I don't want anyone else. I'll never love anyone else besides Billy. I'd become celibate, if I even survived losing him. Which isn't very likely."

My best friend's amusement settled into a solemn silence when he saw how serious I was. After a while, Steve had to go to work, but Max and I stayed as long as we could. That's how it went for days, until finally I was able to convince his doctor to let me stay. I had Max stay at Steve's house with me for now, knowing Billy wouldn't want her around Neil without him around to protect her. She didn't seem too keen on going back there anyway. I ended up going back to Steve's place after a while, cause Max wanted me to. I really wish I wouldn't have left though, because we got a call from the hospital that Billy had taken a turn for the worse. I ran every single stoplight on the way to the hospital, squealing to a stop in the parking lot. I run into the hospital, skidding to a stop in Billy's doorway. Seeing him hooked up to a ventilator, I almost collapse from the weight of my terror. Then Allie comes up behind me, laying a hand softly on my arm. I turn to her, searching her face for answers.

"Allie, what happened? He was fine when I left last night."

"He stopped breathing on his own, so they put him on a ventilator. He's been stable since then, but we'll have to see if he can pull through this. It's all up to him now, all we can do is wait."

I climb into Billy's bed, laying my head on his chest and wrapping my arm around his waist. I take his hand in mine, rubbing my thumb gently across the back of it. I try to sing Purple Rain through my tears, but I can't even talk, so I just give up and dissolve into sobs. I don't even notice you and Max come in. The doctor comes in to talk to Max, explaining what happened and that he should pull through.

"You hear that? He's gonna be okay," Steve strokes my hair gently. "He's in the best hands here. Yeah? He's gonna be okay."

I sit up and wrap my arms tightly around my best friend's waist. "I'm scared, Steve. What if he doesn't wake up? What if I- fuck, this isn't how I wanted to tell you. I'm pregnant, Steve. What if I have to raise this baby by myself?"

"Hey, shh, it's okay. You're okay," he pulls back a bit, tipping my chin up to look at him. He wipes my tears away with his thumbs. "You're not by yourself. No matter what happens, you're not raising that baby alone, you hear me?"

The next day, El comes with Steve and Max, to try and see if she can talk to Billy or somehow get any sign of life out of him. I know El has been able to reach him before, but he wasn't in a coma then. But I've seen her powers over the last year and a half, and shes only getting stronger. Hopefully her battery's charged enough after Starcourt. I wait with baited breath, leaning back into Steve's embrace; he wraps his arms around my waist, and I put my hands over his. It feels nice to be held by him, but it's different than with Billy. When my boyfriend is holding me, there's always an undercurrent of tension, and it could turn sexual with one breath. With Steve, all I feel is brotherly love and comfort.

Max turns the boom box to static, and El ties her scarf over her eyes. I could tell Steve was worried, but it was El's idea to try. After what feels like hours, El finally starts talking. Her voice is soft and quiet in the silent room. "I just see a beach. But nobody's here. It's bright and warm... like he's in his happy..." she trails off, hands twitching a little. "Billy. I see him. He's walking with someone. A little girl. Max? Maybe? It feels like his happy place."

When El takes the blindfold off her eyes, we all take a collective breath. He's there but he can't hear us. It's almost like he doesn't know he's alive. Stuck in a dream he believes to be heaven. Finally, Steve breaks the silence. "Any chance you could bring someone else in there?" He tucks my hair behind my ear. "I mean, not immediately, obviously... but could you?"

"If you can, let me see if I can reach him. Although, he might think I'm dead if I do... I don't know. Max, what do you think?" I look at my little sister, quirking an eyebrow, a habit I picked up from Billy when we were kids.

Max shrugs lightly, looking at El. "He might be confused at first, but if he can see you, you can explain. Might be our best shot. If it's even possible."

"It worked once with Max for like a minute. I'll need a lot of energy- and help."

Steve automatically slips into worried babysitter mode. "Whatever you need. If you feel like you can. It's up to you. Okay? Nobody is forcing you into anything. It's just one option, if you feel up to it."

"Steve is right, honey. If you feel like you cant do it, or you don't want to push yourself that hard, we can just keep trying this way." I switch to a different tape, and 'Rebel Yell' by Billy Idol fills the room. "There's absolutely no pressure. It was just an idea."

"No, no, I'll totally try," El smiles and hugs me. "I just need a few days to really 'charge my batteries'." She smiles at the saying. 

We give her a few days, and keep playing music to try to reach Billy. His health is holding steady, and on the third day he's finally breathing on his own. He just looks like he's asleep, like he's gonna wake up any minute. Steve talks to him from time to time. It's basically just snarky teasing and little jabs about him being soft for me.

"Careful, Steve, piss him off enough, he'll wake up just to punch you, and then I'll laugh," I joke around, trying to hide my nerves. What if this doesn't work? What if he doesn't want to come back? I unconsciously put my hand on my stomach. "I really don't think I can live without him, Steve. But I'll have to, for our baby."

Four days later, El returns with two scarves. Well, here goes nothing. 

"You won't have to, he'll come back to you," Steve stands up, kissing my temple before he ties the scarf over my eyes. "I'm right here. Just relax and listen to El, okay?"

Max turns the boom box to static, and Steve takes my hand, lacing our fingers together. I know immediately that it's working because I can hear the lights flicker. I gasp as I feel like I'm falling for a moment, then I see El standing across from me. 

"Hey, lead the way. This is your element. I'm just along for the ride," I follow her toward a weird light in the distance, then I see him. Relief and grief battle inside me, making me feel like I'm gonna throw up. "Billy..."

It's almost like he heard me, because he looks up, and a smile spreads across his face. I run toward him, and he scoops me up, spinning me around. "Nyssa what are you... what's going on? Where are we?"

I cling to you desperately for a moment, sobbing into your shoulder. Then I take a breath, holding on to your hands. "You're in a coma, Billy, you have been since Starcourt. I almost lost you, twice. They still don't know if..."

"In a... coma? How are you here? Are you okay? What's... I..." he catches sight of El, and his mouth drops open. "Are you doing this? I... I thought... I was so sure I died. That explains the music. I couldn't figure it out. I... I feel like it's been years."

I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to keep my tears from falling, and the nails of my good hand cut into my palm. "God, I miss you, Billy. That day, I... I thought I was gonna lose you. I didn't know if the paramedics were gonna make it in time. I read that music can help when people are in a coma, so... and I'm rambling, I'm sorry. I don't know how long El can keep this up."

Billy rests his forehead against mine, stroking my cheek gently. " I feel you... I always felt you. I don't know how but I felt you. I'll come back to you. I promise. It'll be okay," Billy starts to ripple like he's underwater. I try to take his hand again, but my hand goes right through it like smoke. "Nyssa, I'm coming back, I promise you. Nyssa! Nyssa! I'll come back, I promise. Nyssa!"

Once I feel the ground under my feet again, I take the blindfold off. I blink against the flourescent lighting and fall to my knees with a sob. "That light... El, that light was so bright..." I wrap my arms around myself. "Billy..."

Steve stands up and pulls me into his arms. "What happened? What light?"

"At the end, he just kind of faded back and started rippling, like he was underwater. I couldn't touch him anymore, and there was this really bright light. I don't know, Steve, I just don't..." I hear a quiet voice and whip around to face Billy's bed. "Hold up, please tell me you guys heard that. Please tell me I'm not hallucinating. I don't think I could stand it if I was."

"No, we all definitely heard it," Steve confirmed, and I let out a sigh of relief.

As if just wishing for it was enough, Billy stirred again, calling my name louder and clearer. "Nyssa... 'm sor... sorry. Didn't mean..."

I quickly pull a chair back over by his bed and take his hand, tears of relief flowing unchecked down my face. "Shh, Billy, you're okay. I'm right here, Billy. Max is here, too, and Steve. Robin, Jonathan and Nancy are in the waiting room. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, baby, please?"

It seems like everyone is holding their breath as I try to get Billy's attention and get him to wake up. I take Max's hand across the bed and she grips it tightly, tears falling silently down her face as she watches her brother. The room is silent for the longest minutes of my life, and then Billy's hand twitches in mine before squeezing back. He's actually gonna be okay, he's alive and he's gonna be okay. It's only a couple more minutes before Billy stirs again, blinking his eyes open and reaching out for me.

"Princess," he whispers hoarsely.

"Oh my god, Billy," I give him an awkward hug with a choked sob. "Thank god, I thought I lost you."

I completely break down as I cover my boyfriend's face in kisses. I'm sobbing so hard I can't even speak for a while. Billy sits up with a wince of pain, pulling me close. He scans me for any injuries, as if he wasn't the one just waking up after almost dying. Max crawls slowly up on the bed, crying and clinging to her brother.

"So, I gotta ask, was that the world's craziest nightmare, or was there really a monster?"

"Real monster, sorry," Steve replies.

I let Max hold Billy, hip perched on the edge of his bed as I wrap my arms around his neck. I don't even notice I'm crying anymore. I'm shaking from relief, and a small part of me is terrified I'm dreaming. I decide not to tell him about the baby right now, he's been through a lot the past few weeks. There will be plenty of time to tell him later. Billy pulls me closer, nuzzling his face into my neck. He pulls back after a while, stroking my hair out of my face. When he catches sight of my brace, he frowns.

"You're hurt. Harrington! I thought we agreed you'd keep her away."

"Your girl fights dirty! What was I supposed to do?"

"That's my girl," Billy chuckles pulling me into a quick kiss.

I moan softly, tangling the fingers of my good hand in his mullet. "They said I must have landed on it when I hit the wall. But I'm fine, baby. It's just a sprain. I'll be good as new in like a month. You're the one who almost died." I squeeze my eyes shut and let out a shaky breath, the memories rushing back. "I had to get to you, Billy. There was nothing that would've stopped me. Not even the Mind Flayer."

"Hey, I'm fine. I'll be just fine," Billy whispers softly. "I know, princess. I would have killed anyone keeping me back if it was you." Max slapped his shoulder lightly, and he chuckled. "Severely injured and maimed, I mean. It's gonna be bad, guys. Don't go home until I'm out of here, okay?"

"I'm gonna stay with Steve for a while, unless they'll let me sleep here. I really don't want to leave you, but I don't know if they'll let me stay cause we're not related. They'll let Max stay for sure, she's your sister. I'm not going back to my house though, I don't want to be alone. I'm gonna have nightmares for a really long time."

I was right when I said only Max was allowed to stay. As Steve and I were getting ready to leave, Billy looked at his sister. "Max, please go with them. You need rest. Just don't go home. Harrington, don't let Max go back there, okay?"

We leave, falling asleep shortly after getting home. It had been a really long day. When I woke up I took the bus to the hospital again, getting there just as visiting hours start. I climb gently into Billy's bed, careful not to wake him up as I wrap my arm around his waist. I don't even realize I had fallen asleep until I hear Billy call my name.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you need pain meds? Should I call a nurse?"

"I'm fine. I'm totally fine. Just... dreams. Are you okay? Did you sleep?"

I cup Billy's cheek in my hand, kissing him softly. "I slept some, yeah. I guess I was too exhausted to dream much. I did have the nightmare I usually do. I should be used to it by now, but I don't know if I'm ever gonna get used to it. I was so scared, Billy... I thought..." I swallow thickly, blinking tears away. "I really thought I was gonna lose you. You were hurt so bad..."

"Hey, no tears, it's okay." Billy strokes my cheek with his thumb. "It's okay, come here. I'm here, princess. I had the weirdest dream. You were there. It felt so real."

I lean my cheek into Billy's hand, turning my head to kiss his palm. I wrap my hand around his, reaching my other hand up to brush his hair out of his face and lean in to kiss him softly. "Oh yeah? Tell me about it. Was it nice?"

"It was perfect. We lived together by the beach. It felt so real. Then I saw you in this dark room. You were crying. Then you were gone. I knew I had to find you. Are you okay? Did you get hurt? God, did all of that actually happen? I... I didn't mean... I killed people. I didn't mean to. I didn't."

I kiss Billy softly to shush him, a tear rolling down my cheek. "Hey, shh, baby it's okay. I've got you, Billy. It wasn't you. It was the Mind Flayer. He made you do those things. I have a sprained wrist and ankle cause I was thrown into the wall, but I'm fine. I should get this brace off next week."

Billy pulls me into a deeper kiss, and I feel his hand trembling. "I don't know what I'd do with myself it I had hurt you. Nyssa, I don't know what's gonna happen now. I don't think 'it was the Mind Flayer' is gonna hold up in court. Run away with me? We'll bring Max and get a house by the beach, the police won't find us."

My heart breaks for my boyfriend as I hear the fear and guilt in your voice. All I can do is hold you a tiny bit tighter. "Hey, you didn't hurt me, the Mind Flayer did. And I'm not hurt that bad, all things considered. No one knows what really happened, no one knows you had anything to do with it. You're fine. You're okay, Billy, I promise. We could stay here if you wanted to. Then Max doesn't have to leave Lucas and the rest of her friends, and I don't have to leave Nancy and Jonathan to look after dumbass and make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"You're right, they'll make it go away, they can't exactly have it getting out that a monster from another dimension was running loose in Hawkins, Indiana," he sighs softly. "I really tried to fight it, I did. And dumbass kept you safe. I should give him a break, I owe him everything. Please tell me Max hasn't gone home. He's gonna kill me if I'm not there..."

"Hush, baby, I know. It wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault," I hide my face in his neck. "He didn't even come to the hospital when Max called. Neither of them did. You could have fucking died, and he didn't even..."

"Hey, hey, easy," Billy tips my chin up. "We both know he doesn't care. I didn't expect anything less. I just want you and Max safe. He doesn't matter, you two do." He pulls me into a soft, lingering kiss. I moan softly against his lips, one hand over his heart, feeling the bandage over one of the wounds that the Mind Flayer left behind. The wound that almost took you from me. The arm around your neck tightens just a bit without me realizing it. When i hear someone clear their throat, I jump, my face turning beet red as I turn around to see all the kids and my friends. "Oh, hi guys, I didn't realize you were coming by. Just pretend you didn't see that, yeah?" The room was a bit uncomfortable for a moment before the doctor came in to check on Billy. I reluctantly moved back a little to be out of his way. "Almost thought we lost you there for a minute, kid. It looks like you're healing well, though. I think we'll keep you for a few more days just to make sure." As soon as the doctor was done checking up on Billy, before he was even out of the room, he was reaching for me. I gladly crawled up on the bed and cuddled against him. We just talked to our friends for a while, then I heard the one voice I never expected to, and my blood ran cold with terror. "So this is why we haven't seen you two in over a week." Steve pulled Max behind him, shielding her from her stepdad, and I shot a grateful glance at him before I glared in Neil's direction. I automatically put myself between Billy and his father. It's been second nature to protect him my entire life, and he's especially vulnerable right now. I couldn't quite believe Neil would be bothered to come all the way here. "I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter," Billy bit back, hatred in his gaze. My hackles come up the instant I hear that voice, and my good hand curls into a fist as I attempt to shield Billy. "What the hell are you doing here? I don't remember inviting you. You're not welcome here, Neil." "Easy, princess, he's leaving," Billy says softly. "The hell I am," Neil says, alcohol swimming in his gaze. "You control your bitch. I'm taking you home." "Yeah, it doesn't really work like that," Billy says calmly, cause Neil wants a reaction. Come on, Neil, what happened to 'not in public'? I've been holding down the button for security since Neil stepped foot in the room, and finally two guards walk up behind him. "As you can see, I'm awake, and I just turned eighteen. You can't force me to go with you." The guards seem to catch on to what's happening, possibly used to similar situations. Neil seems to realize that he's not going to get what he wants, so he throws up his hands. "Fine! Stay then! Max, come on, let's go." "Yeah, there's no way in hell I'm letting that happen. You want either one of them, you'll have to go through me," I say icily, an arm protectively around Max's shoulder. "Do I have to remind you what happened the last time you tried to fuck with me? Only difference now is I know how to throw a punch without hurting myself." Surprisingly, Steve is the one to speak up when both Billy is at a loss for words. "Actually, Max isn't his daughter, she's his stepdaughter. He has no right to force her to come with him." That's all the guards need to hear, and they literally drag him away screaming. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy watching it. Billy pulls me tighter against him, kissing my temple softly. "Princess, breathe. He's not worth it." As Neil disappears from sight, I take a deep breath. But my hackles are still up, and I'm so pissed that I see red. My hand is still in a fist, but I don't even notice it. "Who the hell does he think he is?! Max called him from Starcourt, and he blew her off for weeks. Now he wants to waltz in here and start shit? Wants to hurt you when you're already vulnerable?!" Billy's thumb strokes my arm softly, and he kisses my shoulder. "I know, princess. He doesn't care, he just likes feeling powerful. But he's gone, and he won't be coming back." I finally calm down, and we visit with our friends until they have to leave. Later that night, I'm laying in bed with Billy, one hand resting over his heart. I feel like I'm constantly touching him lately, but I still can't quite believe he's really okay. "Nothing would make me happier than getting you and Max as far away from Neil as possible. Max is gonna be able to drive soon, she can come up here whenever she wants. She might be mad at first, but I know she'd forgive us. She won't want to lose you, especially not after everything that just happened. She really loves you, you know." "I know she does, and I love her too. Even if I don't know how to show it all the time. And I'll be fine anywhere, as long as I have you," Billy tucks my hair behind my ear and kisses my forehead. "But what about your mom? Won't she be mad if you tell her you're leaving?" "No, she won't be mad. I told her I was planning on getting you and Max away from him. She knew we would leave not long after you turned eighteen. She'll be fine, and we can visit her as much as we want." It doesn't take long for the adrenaline from Neil's unexpected visit to wear off, and I can tell Billy's painkillers are kicking in. I curl into him, hand over his heart as I let the rhythm lull me to sleep. My slumber doesn't stay peaceful for long before the nightmare starts. I moan softly in my sleep, face scrunching up and a single tear sliding down my cheek. "Billy!! No, no, no, no Billy wake up. Billy, please wake up!! Billy please... don't leave me, I need you... we need you, Billy." Eventually I feel a hand on my shoulder shaking me awake, and hear Billy's voice calling me softly. "Hey. Nyssa. Hey. It's okay. Hey wake up, baby," I feel his lips kissing my tears away but I still can't shake the nightmare fully. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Shh, Nyssa. It's okay, beautiful. Easy. Just a nightmare. I'm right here." Finally I wake up with a small gasp, blinking sleep out of my eyes. Then I cling desperately to your neck. "Billy? Thank fucking god, I thought... it was just a nightmare, thank god it was just a nightmare. I'm so sorry, did I wake you up? Are you alright?" I finally register what you just asked. "Oh, fuck. Um..." "No, I'm not in pain, princess. I'm fine, it's okay. It was just a nightmare. You're okay," he strokes my cheek gently. "I'm right here. Do you wanna talk about it? You said 'we need you'. Who's we?" "I was back in that night, back at Starcourt. Watching it all over again. All the fear came rushing back, and it felt so real," my hand instinctively goes to my stomach. "Um... I... I've got to tell you something. But I don't know how you'll take it, and I'm scared. I don't want to lose you." Billy's thumb strokes along my cheekbone gently, tipping my chin up. "We're safe, it's over. What do you need to tell me that would make you lose me? I'm not going anywhere. Princess, what's wrong?" I nibble on my lip for a moment, steeling myself for the possibility I could be about to lose you. I just remember what Steve told me when I told him the news: no matter what, I won't raise this baby alone. "Billy... I'm pregnant. The doctor thinks it happened about a month and a half before... before that night. So about three months ago." Billy's hand moves from my cheek to rest against my stomach, and I watched his face as the news sank in. After what seems like forever, he finally speaks softly. "You're pregnant..." a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and he pulls me into a kiss. "We're having a baby. Oh my god. I might be a terrible dad but of course you're not losing me." I laugh against his lips as I kiss back, tasting the salt from my tears. Then I pull back resting my forehead against his as I cup his cheek in my hand. "Hey, no. You are going to be an amazing father, Billy. You are nothing like him, you hear me? You are sweet, and kind, and the most amazing man I've ever met." "I wish everyone felt the same way you do. I won't let you down, I promise. I could never, ever abandon my family." I rest your hand over his, twining our fingers together as I kiss back. I sink the fingers of my other hand in his hair, and I moan against his lips as I feel his cock brush against my core. Billy deepens the kiss as he grips my his, and I relish the taste of him after what feels like years of not having him to myself. Then he stops kissing me, pulling back just enough to whisper softly. "Marry me." I pull back in surprise and gasp softly, a hand flying to my mouth as tears form in my eyes. "Billy... oh my god. Yes. Yes!! Of course I'll marry you," I giggle softly, mouth stretched in a wide grin. "I love you so much, Billy Hargrove." Billy laughs softly, sighing against my neck. "I love you so much," he pulls back and twists his ring off, putting it on my middle finger where it only sort of fits. "For now," he smiles before pulling me into a hard kiss. "I love you with all my heart." I slip his ring into my palm, setting it on the bedside table. Then I unhook my necklace from my neck and slide the ring on the chain. "There, now it won't get lost. Will you help me put this back on?" "Of course I will, princess," he settles the necklace against my chest, kissing right below my ear as he clasps the chain. The ring rests right next to my heart. "Perfect." He kisses along my jaw and down my neck, and I moan softly, tipping my head to expose the column of my throat. "Billy... fuck... you're still healing, baby..." I feel Billy's lips curve against my skin before his teeth graze along my collarbone. His hand find the warm skin of my lower back. "I feel fine, Nyssa, and you feel amazing. Unless you want me to stop, then I will." I groan softly, nipping at his ear, jaw and neck. "I want you so bad, Billy. I just don't want to hurt you. We probably don't have that long before the nurse comes back, anyway. God, Billy, I missed you so much. I'm so fucking glad you're okay." Billy groaned in pain and flopped back against his pillow, and I pulled back quickly with an apology on my lips. "Hospitals suck," he grumbled, stealing a quick kiss before resting back against the pillow again. "The second I'm out of here and we're home, I want you naked in bed for at least 24 hours. I thought it was over for me, but knowing you and Max were safe, and I was taking that monster down with me... I was okay with that. But now, knowing you're pregnant... I could never leave you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else." I squeeze my eyes shut, but a stray tear slips down my cheek anyway. I let out a shaky breath before I can even speak, trying to talk through my tears. "I've never felt more terrified than I did that day. I wanted to kill Steve for holding me back. When I finally broke out of his grip and got to you, I thought you were already dead. I wanted to die, Billy, I wouldn't have cared if I did. I didn't know I was pregnant yet, all I knew was that you were dead or dying and couldn't live without you." Billy kisses my tears away, shushing me softly. "You could, princess. You're the strongest person I know. I'd never want you to give up. I've never been this happy to be alive before." I grip his hand softly in mine, kissing each finger before pressing a kiss to your palm, your temple, and finally your lips. "I honestly don't know if I could, Billy. I sure wouldn't want to. I lost you once, when I moved here. I was terrified that Neil would go too far one day and I would never know. I hated my mom for the first six months we were here. I wouldn't have been able to survive if you would have died that day, I know for a fact." "Princess, I would never let him keep me from you. The moment I turned eighteen I would have been gone, I would have found you." A week later Billy was finally allowed to leave the hospital. He had a prescription for painkillers, and horrendous scars as a memory. He slips his tshirt and jacket on carefully. "I'll be honest with you, I don't really want to go home." "Come home with me, then. Or I'm sure Steve would let you live with him," I carry my boombox in one hand, holding yours with the other. I had slipped my tapes into my pocket. "I don't really like the idea of you going back there, either. You're eighteen, Neil can't say anything. Not that he'll even care one way or the other." Once we reach my car, I let go of Billy's hand just long enough to put the boombox in the trunk, climb behind the wheel and start the car. Billy slips into the passenger seat and takes my hand. "Harrington has proven useful enough keeping you safe, but I think if we lived together we would actually kill each other. How ruined is my car? I'm not sure I even want to know. Could we save it?" "I mean maybe, yeah. We could ask Hopper, Steve and Jonathan for help. So, where to, love?" "Let's go to your place if that's okay? I just want to rest with no Neil drama." "You got it, babe, no problem. I seem to remember something about you wanting me naked in bed for at least 24 hours?" I cup his cock gently as I drive. "That sounds like a great idea to me. Mom is gone until Saturday, so we've got the whole house to ourselves for a couple days." "Well then, get us to a bed and I'll be able to make good on that particular promise," he grinned as his hand trailed up my back. He was already partially hard just from me cupping his cock. "You're actually here, you're okay." When we got to a stoplight, I took a moment to just study his face, pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I drive a few miles above the speed limit, knowing Hopper won't care much. I just needed to get home, I needed your hands on me. "I can't believe you're okay. I love you so much, Billy." "I'm here, princess. I love you too, so much." I keep his hand in mine, and we make it home in record time. We had barely made it inside before Billy had me pressed against the wall, his lips on mine and shirt thrown somewhere. I gasp against his lips, diving my fingers into his mullet for a moment. I can't get his shirt off fast enough, my fingers tracing the familiar lines of his body. I hesitate for a moment when my fingers brush against the ridges of scar tissue on his sides, my breath hitching and tears pricking my eyes. Billy pulled back, eyes searching my face. "I'm fine. No pain, I promise. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." His lips found mine again and he lifted me up with one arm. I gasp softly, wrapping my legs around his waist. When we reached my room, he set me down on the bed. He kicked his shoes off, pulling his jeans and underwear off before climbing onto the bed. I reach out a shaky hand to brush my fingers softly over the scar on his chest. "Hey, baby, look at me. I'm okay. I'm right here with you. I'm not going anywhere." "Billy, I need you. Fuck me. Please, baby." Billy pulls me against his chest and his cock is inside me with a snap of his hips. I wrap my arms around his neck and hide my face in his shoulder with a soft sob of relief. I still can't quite believe I'm holding him in my arms, that he's actually okay. I don't know how long it'll take until I stop being terrified that I'll wake up and he'll be gone. I tangle my fingers in his hair as I kiss him desperately. "That's it, baby, I've got you. I've always got you." 

El and I moved in with Joyce, Will and Jonathan. Then, three months later, a news story came out. It was all about Hawkins, and what happened that day at Starcourt. Or at least, the cover-up story that the feds made up to tell the media. How thirty people died in a fire right before the Fourth of July, and how dad was one of them. They didn't mention anyone by name other than him, just as I assumed would happen once the story got out.

Everything returned to sort of a normal routine until Joyce dropped the bomb on us that we were moving out of Hawkins. She didn't even tell us where we were headed, and I was livid, I completely lost it.

"What?! Joyce, no, I can't. I have to stay here. I have to protect Billy. It's only a matter of time before that thing comes back, and who knows if it'll target him again or not. Max is here, too, and all Will's friends. I can't leave Steve, he's my best friend, I've got to protect him too. If El leaves Hawkins, all of them would be in danger. Please, Joyce, don't make us leave."

"I need to get Will away from all this, I don't want him in danger anymore. I can't be here with memories of Hopper everywhere I turn. We need to leave, we need a fresh start. I'm sorry, but my mind is made up. You could stay if you want, though. You're eighteen, I can't force you to leave if you want to stay."

"I promised Dad I'd look out for El, no matter what. If you make her leave, then I have to leave. I don't want us separated, Joyce."

"He had a will written out, probably back when all this started. It says if he dies, and you're eighteen, then you would be El's legal guardian. So if you don't want to leave, she could stay with you, then you wouldn't be separated."

"I guess I'll come with you, but you have to promise we can come and visit. And I want Billy and Max to come with us, too. I won't leave him again, I won't allow him to live under that roof with Neil. Not without me here to protect him. I refuse to lose him a third time."

Joyce agrees, and I make a mental note to tell Billy later. Then came the hard task of cleaning out Hopper's cabin. I'm in our bedroom with El, looking to see if we missed anything the first time around. She tries to reach a teddy bear on a shelf, but she's too short. So she tries to use her powers, but they're still gone.

"Hey, it's okay," I say softly. "They'll come back."

"They'll come back," Mike says at the same time, walking into the room. "I know they will."

He grabs the teddy bear off the shelf and hands it to his girlfriend. I busy myself folding some shirts that don't really need folding, only to pretend I'm not listening as they talk.

"You packed your walkie, right?"

"Yes," she replies.

"Because you know that I'm gonna steal Cerebro from Dustin and call you so much, you're gonna have to turn it off, right?"

I bite my lip on a chuckle as El laughs. "Did you talk to your mom? About Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got the okay. I'll be there. And then I was thinking maybe you could come up here for Christmas. And Will, too. You can come before or after Christmas, or whatever Mrs Byers wants, but I was thinking Christmas Day would be super fun, because we'd all have cool new presents to play with and, uh... Sorry, that made me sound like a seven year old."

"I like presents, too," El says softly.

"Yeah, Mike. I'm almost twenty, but presents are amazing," I interrupt.

"Yeah, cool. Yeah. I like- I like presents, too," Mike says.

"Cool," El says, starting to walk out of the room. Then she turns back to look at her boyfriend. "Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember that day... at the cabin, you were talking to Max?"

"Um... I don't think I follow," he says, and I chuckle.

"You talked about your- your feelings, your heart."

"Oh. Oh, yeah, that. Man, that was so long ago. Um... that was really heat of the moment stuff, and we were arguing and... I don't really remember... what did I say, exactly?"

"Mike..." El walks over to Mike, cupping his cheek in her palm. "I love you, too."

She kisses him for a while, then walks out of the room. I clear my throat softly and follow, giving him a hug on the way out. We find Joyce in Hopper's room, packing up his shirts and things. El holds up the teddy bear.

"Donation box?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Joyce replies. 

"What is that?" El asks, nodding to a piece of paper in Joyce's hand.

"Uh... it's- it's the speech Hop wrote for you and Nyssa."

"Speech?"

"Yeah. You know, the heart to heart," El looks confused, and Joyce continues. "He never talked to you, did he?"

El shakes her head, and Joyce scoffs fondly. My sister reaches out for the paper. "Can I read?"

Joyce hands El the paper, walking out to give her privacy. I start to follow, but she stops me. "No, stay, please."

"Okay, honey, I'll stay," we lay on the floor to read it:

There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about. I know this is a difficult conversation, but I care about you both very much. And I know that you care about each other very much. And that's why it's important that we set these boundaries moving forward, so we can build an environment... where we all feel... comfortable... trusted... and open to sharing our feelings. Feelings. Jesus. The truth is, for so long, I'd forgotten what those even were. I've been stuck in one place, in a cave, you might say. A deep, dark cave. And then, I left some Eggos out in the woods, and you came into my life and for the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. But, lately, I guess I've been feeling distant from you. Like you're... you're pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise, watching westerns together before we doze off. But I know you're getting older. Growing. Changing. And I guess... if I'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want things to change. So, I think maybe that's why I came in here, to try to maybe.. stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that's naive. It's just... not how life works. It's moving. Always moving, whether you like it or not. And, yeah, sometimes it's painful. Sometimes it's sad. And sometimes... it's surprising. Happy. So, you know what? Keep on growing up. Don't let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from 'em, and when life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave. But please, if you don't mind, for the sake of your poor old dad, keep the door open three inches.

As El reads the letter, she leans against me, sobbing harshly. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, rubbing slow soft circles. "Hey, shh, it's okay, El. You're okay, I've got you. I know, I miss him too. But remember what I told you: we'll get him back, somehow."

Then Joyce knocks softly on the doorframe, and we look up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. Time to go?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay."

We sit back on our heels, and I hug El tight for a moment, kissing her temple. Then we walk out of the cabin, climb into the U-Haul, and drive away from the cabin. Minutes later, we pass by the town limits sign, leaving Hawkins behind forever.


End file.
